Hearing Damage
by Amelia St.Claire
Summary: Aboard the Helicarrier resides Agent Tess Lane, code named "Blaze", an X-gene carrier who can manipulate energy. An outcast of the base, Tess is strong willed, intelligent... and deaf. Then enters the Avengers, who turn her already odd life upside down. Can she help them defeat the Chitauri? And maybe help out a lonely doctor? Bruce/OC
1. Chapter 1

It didn't matter where, or when you slept on the large floating fortress that was the Shield Helicarrier; you were always going to feel the constant vibration of the engine at work. It didn't matter it you were a new, low clearanced, underappreciated agent lying on an uncomfortable, government-issued cot resting on the lowest level floor, or Director Fury himself, who, when able, slept on the highest level sleeping quarters on the ship and had earned the privilege of a bed with more than three inches of padding in it. It also didn't differ if the great, mechanical castle was claiming the skies or trekking the oceans. When most of the lights and sounds of the base died out for the night, that dull, continuous roar of the carrier continuing to operate met every ear on board, and when the residents were at their stillest, they could feel the slight buzz of the ship they were residing on working away. Some thought the sound and motion was a nuisance, another obstacle of many to keep them from sleeping at night. Others learned to stop noticing the unavoidable product of the carrier and sleep soundly through it. And then there were others, very few, but still very present, who liked gentle hum, and found that it helped them sleep better than if it wasn't there at all.

One of these few, was Agent Tess Lane.

Lane, whose room was on one of the upper level sleeping quarters in the moving palace, was an avid fan of sleep. She found that the calm vibration of the engine helped to her doze off more peacefully, as if it was a final reassurance before she slumbered that everything was still working as it should be. Unlike the rest of the crew, she wouldn't be able to hear if something misfired; she'd have to feel it instead. This small vibration was a comfort to her, a sign that even if the world outside was falling apart, she was safe where she was.

Currently, the young woman slept without care. The day Tess was sleeping into was a Saturday, which for her meant a day off (as long as there were no global catastrophes Shield was in the care of that she needed to assist in.) She was able to sleep in until as long as she wanted, she didn't need to train in the rec room, and even though she was still required to wear her uniform out of her private living space, she didn't have to have the professional appearance that she normally would be required to have. Oh yes, she loved Saturdays. Her only day off of the week...

It was about 7:30 that Saturday, as the young woman continued to doze, when the mechanical sliding door to her room opened, a suited man stepping inside and placing a tray on the desk next to the doorway. The woman was not able to hear the security code being entered, or the whooshing sound that came with every entrance or exit, so she was unaware that she was being watched from above, a smirk looking down on her sleeping form. It wasn't until this man, standing at the end of her bed, grabbed a handful of her sheets and pulled them off her sleeping form did she realize someone else was in the room.

Her training caused her reaction before she even had time to register what was happening. Lane had quickly sprung up from her slumber, grabbing the Glock 19 on her nightstand next to the bed and clicking off the safety, pointing it at the 'threat' in front of her. She hadn't even opened her eyes yet.

Agent Phil Coulson smirked at the sight.

The woman's hair was a nest of knots and tangles and stuck out at all ends, and her night clothes were wrinkled and unkempt from her sleeping in them. Her current expression was one of quick observation and defensiveness, ready to face whatever threat was in her room. But when she saw that the only out of place object in the room was her mentor and friend, her trained expression disappeared, and one of fury and annoyance took its place. The woman roughly inhaled and exhaled through her nose as she regarded the man, and she quickly redid the safety on her weapon before all but dropping it back on her nightstand and turning back to him.

_What?!_ she angrily motioned and mouthed to him, her eyes ablaze. His returning look was a cross between an apology and a smirk of amusement.

_Wake up,_ he signed to her, his motions fluid and smooth, as they always were._ Fury wants you training today, and I knew you wouldn't get up if I just hit the alarm to get you._

Her anger became mixed with confusion, her giving the man in front of her a face that embodied this feeling.

_Why?! It's Saturday!_ she angrily replied. Her signs were growing larger with emphasis, and her expressions more pronounced. She looked to her alarm clock for reassurance, and sure enough, she was correct; it was that special day of the week. She also looked at the time, and then turned back to the agent. _I should be sleeping for at least another three hours!_

The older agent almost laughed at her statement, but refrained from doing so for fear of attack from the obviously pissed off woman. She was at heart a very mild mannered girl, Tess was; determined, but quiet. She only ever got this way when she was angry, and even then if it had been any other person, she probably wouldn't be reacting this way. He, on the other hand, was special. He got to see this side of her.

_He wants you in the rec room, Tess,_ the man continued. _I know this isn't your first pick of activities to be doing on a Saturday morning, but just do what the Director says. Plus, I knew you weren't going to be happy about this sooo..._ He paused for a moment and turned to the side, gesturing to the desk in her room. _I brought breakfast._

Tess turned her head to her right, and saw what he was pointing to. On her desk was a tray piled with food, and to be more specific, all her favorites. There was bacon, potatoes, pineapple, strawberries, an omelette that looked to be stuffed with mushrooms, spinach, and cheese, a biscuit, and a tall glass of juice. It all looked delicious, and though she absent mindedly wondered how Phil knew all of her favorite breakfast foods (she stopped worrying about this kind of stuff a long time ago), her mouth started to water, and her stomach growled. Shield had employed some fantastic cooks. She had learned this very quickly when she first arrived at the carrier.

She turned back to glare at the man.

_You think you can buy me off with food._

He smirked._ Can't I?_ She continued her death look at him, and he took that as a yes. Be there by 8:15.

Sighing, Tess nodded her head, accepting defeat._ Fine. What are we doing today, then?_

His expression changed ever so slightly. This was the question he had been preparing for._ I don't know what you'll be doing. I'm flying out soon to meet with Doctor Selvig, so I won't be training you today._

The girl paused.

_Oh..._ It was a moment before she continued._ Is Natasha back then? I didn't hear anything about her returning._

Phil didn't answer her for a moment, and instead bit his lip as he looked at her.

_No, she's not._

Tess's eyes grew to the size of plates. Phil and Natasha were her normal trainers, one taking the other's place when one wasn't present. Occasionally Barton would fill in for Natasha if she asked him to, but she knew for a fact he wouldn't be doing it. He was stationed at Selvig's base. Hill even sparred with her for a time a few months ago when Phil was on a mission, but that was a very rare occurrence. So because none of those options were available, that meant there was only one person left to be with her. Her mouth hung open.

_Phil! I hate training with Carpenter! I never get to try anything new, and all she wants me to do is create a field again and again and again! I want some target practice! I would rather have Fury train me!_

He sighed; he knew this reaction would be coming. Though he knew and understood why Tess didn't liked Agent Carpenter, he didn't have another choice. Hill was too busy to train today, none of her usuals were on base, and no one else on the carrier could know about her powers. Most of the agents there didn't have enough clearance to know what she could do.

_I will ask her to include that today,_ he told Lane, trying to calm her down._ I know you don't like her, and believe me, I tried to see if Hill could do it, but she can't. I'm sorry._ He paused for a moment, and took a breath. A relaxed but unyielding look came on his face._ Now, I'm leaving in fifteen minutes. I don't want to hear that you gave her a hard time, got it?_ He meant this as partly a joke and partly as a warning.

Tess rolled her eyes at him. She was thirty-one years old and he said this to her like she was ten. She know he didn't mean anything by it, but Phil had become much of a surrogate father for her since she gotten there two years ago, and he seemed to know he had acquired this role. He was just reminding her. He knew she never gave anyone a hard time on the carrier. Hell, she hardly ever conversed with any of the other agents.

_Yeah, yeah. Who do I give a hard time anyway._ She signed this more as a statement than a question.

She started to rise from her bed, standing on her feet and stretching upward. She then looked over at Phil once more, giving him a questioning look as she remembered something.

_You never said why Fury wants me training today._

Phil's face looked as if it fell a little, but she only knew because she was around him so often. Any other person would have never noticed.

_We don't know..._ he began, but didn't finish his sentence. He then started a new one. _We want you to be prepared. Things are going to be changing soon and it's... just in case._ The look on his face left no room for a response, so she left it at that. She nodded to him.

_Stay out of trouble,_ he then told her with a smirk, the previous look disappearing from his face. She waved him off, giving him a _Whatever,_ before she told him the same. Phil then left the room, the sliding door announcing his exit.

Tess watched after him for a moment, and then started on her breakfast, never getting off her face. Eating a piece of bacon between her fingers, she walked back to her nightstand and picked up her headpiece, placing it on her right ear. Turning it on, she smiled slightly as sound flowed through her ears, the noises of a busy helicarrier outside dancing in her head.

She bite off a piece of her breakfast and sighed. She hoped it wasn't going to be one of those days.

* * *

Training was just as Tess expected it to be; repetitive, mundane, irritating. Agent Sarah Carpenter once again only trained her in the very basics of her skills, basics that she had mastered within a year of her realizing her abilities. She was able to practice her aim... for about ten minutes in her three hour allotted training time. This irked the woman, angry that even a request from Agent Coulson couldn't make her change her unyielding, constant agenda. She didn't understand why she was so set on making Tess create a field that she had already demonstrated many a time before she could.

Her itinerary wasn't the only reason Lane disliked Carpenter. It was her expressions, looking down at her as if she had some kind of power over her. She spoke very little to Tess, but when she did it was as if she was speaking to a child, slowly and carefully, like she wouldn't be able to understand. But she understood perfectly; Carpenter underestimated her. It made the woman's blood boil, that even though she was one of the few who knew what she could do, she would look at her that way. But as always, she said nothing. She held her tongue; getting angry at the agent wasn't going to make anything better.

After the three hours of her personal hell, Tess walked to the locker rooms to clean up and change into her uniform. Her training suit, though it was not covered in sweat due to her lack of exertion, wasn't suitable to be walking around the base in. When she looked presentable again, she began to walk towards the bridge of the ship. There wasn't anything or anybody she was looking for in particular; she just wanted to be around people, even if she wasn't speaking to anyone.

Upon arriving, Lane was met with the usual aura of activity that she was used to in the bustle of Shield agents. The bridge, the center of all activity on the Helicarrier, was crowded with people, most of whom were either stationed at computers doing some kind of technical work, or walking around hurriedly, files present in their hands. Tess, who had no work to complete like the agents in front of her, slightly leaned against the railing out of everyone's way as she watched them all.

Tess was often regarded as 'the agent who wasn't an agent,' sometimes as a jest, and sometimes as an explanation, because in truth, that was what she was. Though she was trained to an extent as an agent and given the title as one, she didn't have the same roles or duties of a normal agent of Shield. Ever since her arrival at Shield, Fury had her training with agents to help improve her abilities, and mainly, only that. She had never been on a mission, never had to file paperwork, or never was put in the line of fire. She was basically the backup if it was needed, despite her powers. But despite all this, she was given a title and level 7 clearance. This made many on the ship resent her.

But none of them knew how hard she trained, how hard she had been pushed for control. There were only six people who frequented the Helicarrier who knew of her abilities, so to the rest of the crew, she was woman who didn't do anything and somehow found the lift to the top of the food chain. But they didn't understand. Her background, her story was a secret. She was a deaf X-gene carrier who had escaped the clutches of AIM to be rescued by Shield. No one knew this, no one even suspected what she could do. She didn't just have level 7 clearance; she was level 7 clearance.

She had asked Coulson before why Fury didn't put her in the field, make her be a productive member of Shield. He only told her that Fury wanted her to train and improve her abilities because he was saving her for bigger and better things.

She stayed in her position for awhile, watching the agents scurry about the room and carry out their tasks, avoiding the curious glances of those who looked up at her. However, after a time of standing there, she had to leave her spot on the railing. She had a habit of reading the lips of those her eyes settled on, but because they weren't positioned directly towards her and kept turning on their feet as they spoke, if gave her a headache to keep concentrating on something that came so easily to her. She slowly turned around on the bridge, something catching her eye.

Lane looked above to identify was caught her sight, and she was easily able to tell what, or who, it was. Director Fury was standing on the platform above her, dressed in his usual garb of dark clothing outlined by a long, black trench coat, watching her with his vision that seemed to look right into a person. He didn't turn his head when he and Tess locked gazes, and instead continued to watch her, as if he was analyzing every cell in her body. Used to the examination but still not comfortable with it, she nodded to him, and he responded the same way. She then continued walking, her destination not far from where the Director was standing.

Walking up a short flight of stairs, Tess quietly made her way to her stop, an unoccupied lab on her right. Upon walking near it, the sliding glass doors opened and allowed her to enter, a cool blast of air hitting her as her walked in. The lab was one of many on the Helicarrier, but she liked this one the best because of it's view of the bridge; she could always look down on all of the agents at work from her seat in the corner of the room. The empty work space was equipped with all the latest and advanced gadgets and technology Shield could get its hands on. Not that that was much of a problem for the highly classified government agency. Their requests for anything were very promptly met. The flashy gizmos meant nothing to the woman, however; she wouldn't know a computer from an expensive gamma ray scanner anyway.

Sitting in her seat next to the large window, she picked up one her books that was in a small pile under the chair. She kept a few there whenever she left so that she would be able to chose when she came back. Reaching under the seat and ticking up the pile to select what she wanted to read, she looked at the five books neatly stacked on top of each other in her hands. Tracing her fingers along the spines, she selected the one F. Scott Fitzgerald book she had. Though she loved contemporary novels, she wanted to read all the classics too. Relaxing into the chair, she flipped to the page she was currently on, and began to let her mind wander to the excitement and splendor of the roaring 20's, and the follies of Nick and Gatsby.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello! This is my first Avengers story, so hope you enjoy! Please review and tell me what you think!

* * *

Sunday began as usual on the Helicarrier. Tess was dressed and ready to go by 7, and by 7:30 she was already down in the rec room, ready to train. Because Coulson had not yet returned from Selvig's base, she was once again subjected to another training day with Agent Carpenter. She was less than thrilled of course, but she hoped that because her allotted time was longer today, she would find more time to actually practice with her abilities than continue doing mundane activities. She entered the rec room in her training clothes, a specially manufactured athletic suit that could resist high levels of heat, with her hair tied up and her headpiece securely on.

Already standing in the middle of the room was Carpenter, her arms crossed and her straight, jet black hair pulled back as well. She was wearing her Shield uniform, and she regarded Tess with a strange look, one of almost... uneasiness? Tess thought this was strange. Normally it was just impassive.

Quickly glancing around the room, she noticed something was different about the area. The normally bare room was filled with various gym equipment pieces, wrestling mats, and... targets. She was taken back, but didn't let it show. What was all this about?

When she made it to the middle of the room, she stood a few feet away from Carpenter, awaiting her instructions. Her and the agent were about the same height, so she was able to look the woman right in the eye as she began.

"We're going to try something a bit different today," Carpenter started. Tess could tell from the tone of her voice that she seemed... nervous. Her statement surprised the woman, but she nodded in understanding. "We're going to be doing lifting, hand-to-hand, and target shooting today. And we're adding an extra hour to our time." This time Tess allowed herself to look surprised, her eyes widening. She was suddenly very excited. "You ready?"

Tess smirked slightly, and nodded.

"Good. You see that target?" Carpenter pointed to her right, gesturing to a large but distance bulls eye across the room. Tess nodded once more. "Turn it to ash."

The woman smirked slightly as her hands began to flame.

* * *

Sweat lined her forehead, beads dripping down her face as she took shaky breaths to try and steady her heart. Four hours into her training, her hair was a mess, her face was a crimson red, and she was surrounded by debris, chunks of burnt wood and ash covering the floor around her. She had never been trained like this before, so intensely and without break. She and Carpenter had been alternating between combat and target practice, occasionally lifting weights in between. Her arms and legs burned with exhaustion, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could go on like this.

But despite the pain and fatigue she was enduring, and the rugged state she was currently in, she was enjoying herself. She had never been able to use her powers like this, challenge herself to this extent. Of course she had been pushed to the point of sweat before, but this, this was real training. It was constant and unforgiving, the projectiles being thrown at her almost never ceasing during target practice, to the point where she was starting to get large cuts and bruises whenever she would miss one and it would hit her. She also learned that the agent she was training with was a more than decent fighter, and she didn't take it easy on her in the slightest during hand-to-hand sessions. And the weight training... she was convinced she had lifted more than her body weight.

If all of Carpenter's sessions were more like this, she would learn to enjoy them more.

She had taken notice that whenever she had fired at the targets or used her powers, Carpenter had to look away from her or tensed up, as if preparing for a strike. Of course these reactions weren't conspicuous, but Tess had a good eye; she could see them anyway. She was confused as to why she did this until a thought struck her; was the agent unnerved by her abilities? It would explain why she only had her producing fields before, something non destructive that could be powered down easily. But that didn't explain why she was suddenly going all out to train her. She didn't take much other notice to it, and she wasn't going to ask, or complain.

Suddenly, she was taken from her thoughts as something came from the corner of her eye. She turned her head to see a flying projectile coming towards her from behind, another of many that she had been firing at her from all angles. She quickly turned on her heel and spun around, firing at the wooden disk. It exploded into multiple pieces, smoke and ash appearing from the debris as it fell to the floor. However, before she had the chance to admire her work, more large disks were fired at the woman, about 15 in total. Cursing under her breath, she took out the first three coming at her before she quickly realized that she wouldn't be able to hit all of them at the same time.

Turning her body in a circular motion, Tess generated large flames in her both her hands. As she moved, the flames grew in size and power, becoming almost whip-like, and with sharp motions of her body, she propelled the whips towards the disks, swinging them gracefully around herself as they grew longer and more powerful, destroying the projectiles upon touching them. When she saw that the threats were all gone, and that there were no more coming towards her, she stopped turning, and let the fire burn out quickly. She inhaled a few more breaths to calm herself, what she just accomplished taking even more energy out of her.

Tess looked up to her left to see Carpenter staring at her, a bit of an impressed but cautious look on her face. She had yet to see Tess do that. The woman had surprised herself also; she had never tried such a powerful fire manipulation before. She looked at her hands slightly, as if in amazement, and then dropped her to her knees. She was exhausted, and she needed a break.

As she began to find strength in her legs again, she happened to look up and saw something that surprised her. Fury was standing on the upper platform that looked down on the rec room, alone. He was watching her carefully, that analyzing look once again on his face. Tess had no idea how long he had been standing there, watching her every move. All she knew was that he had seen her last little performance. Their eyes met once again, but this time, Fury was the first to nod, and then slowly left the room, exiting from the set of doors on the upper level.

Well at least she knew why her training was so hard today.

* * *

The Director had left the Helicarrier hours ago on some kind of business. Tess had learned of this through her headpiece, which, along with serving as a microphone for her cochlear, acted as a Shield headset, allowing her to get messages like any of the other agents. No one seemed to know why he had left so urgently. Fury's business, unless otherwise stated, was his own. He could have been overthrowing some country for all anyone knew.

Tess had completed a brutal seven hours of training that day, with more to come being that it was only her first day of the work week. She heard about the Director's parting through her headpiece as she continued to incinerate targets and pound training dummies. By the time her time in the rec room was over, he had been gone for about three hours, and he could have been anyway by that time.

Tess didn't think much of his departure. Fury was almost always leaving to go do some kind of super secret spy crap, so this wasn't exactly new. All she cared about at the moment was taking a shower and cleaning the layers of sweat off of her body. She wanted to throw her suit in one of the washing machines too; it smelt terrible.

After one of the longest and hottest showers she'd ever taken and a trip to the laundry room, she walked to the cafeteria, back in her Shield uniform and looking more human again, and got herself some food, starving after the intense workout. After sitting alone at a table as she ate and finishing, as usual, she left and retrieved her suit from the laundry room, dropping it off in her living quarters before setting off towards the lab.

Upon arriving, wasted no time walking right over to her chair by the window, picking up the same book she was reading yesterday before sinking into the chair and opening to the page she left off at.

It could have been minutes or hours that had passed before a young blonde male came walking into the lab, something that she wasn't used to with the work space being unoccupied. The sound of the sliding down opening made her jump, and she quickly turned towards the entrance to see what the source of the noise was. But upon seeing the man standing there, who equally surprised to see the woman alone in the room, she lightly smiled, recognizing the face. His name was Agent Tom Webster, and he was one of the few agents aboard the carrier to not speak to Tess as if she was a child.

Seeing who it was who sat in front of him, Tom smiled, waving to her slightly.

"Hey Tess," he greeted her causally. She smiled to him also and mouthed, Hey Tom, in response. She didn't like using her voice very often, even with people she considered friends.

She liked Tom. She found him to be one of the few around her that didn't seem to judge her by all her secrets and "unearned" status on base. He also spoke to her normally, like he would any other person, which made it easier for her to understand him and read his lips. Most people began talking to her so slowly she couldn't grasp what they were trying to tell her.

Tom was carrying a toolbox in his hand, and he placed it on the large table in the middle of the room as he continued to speak to her, facing her so she could see his whole face. As he did, he started to toy with the tool box.

"Don't mind me," he continued friendly, as he opened the lid to the box. "There's some scientist or doctor or whatever who might be using the lab for a bit, so they wanted me to make sure everything's working right before he gets here."

Though she was a little surprised, she nodded in understanding. She wasn't very happy about losing her lab for a period of time, but according to Tom this 'doctor' sounded like he wasn't going to be there forever. That was, if he came at all. It wouldn't be a big deal; she'd just come back when he was gone. She was just glad Tom had mentioned it. She didn't know what she'd do if a man she'd never seen before was suddenly in her lab messing with the equipment.

So for the time being she just settled back into her reading as Tom began to make sure all the machines were in working order. With the thoughts of this new, temporary addition to Shield occupying her mind, Tess and Tom fell into a comfortable silent, the only noises being the great machines of the lab coming to life, and Tom beginning to check them over.


	3. Chapter 3

_For my own purposes, Bruce is forty in my story. Please review and tell me what you think!_

* * *

Ever since she woke up the next morning, Tess noticed that all of the Helicarrier seemed to be buzzing with some news she apparently missed. That wasn't surprising, however; if it didn't come through her headpiece and wasn't official Shield news, she normally didn't receive the pleasure of hearing whatever news everyone was talking about.

Fury had returned sometime early that morning when Tess was training with Carpenter. The two women only trained for about three hours that day, Carpenter saying that she had some important business she needed to take care of early in the day. Tess had a feeling it had something to do with the big news going around the base, but she didn't ask or mind. Like yesterday, the training was intense, just the way she liked it, and three hours of intense training was better than six of mundane exercises.

It was only eleven in the morning by the time they were done, and by twelve Tess was cleaned, dressed, and walking around the Helicarrier with nothing to do. Believing she was doomed to another day with nothing happening to her, she decided to retire to the lab early, hoping to finish her book that she was halfway done with already. She walked over to the lab by her normal route through the bridge, and was almost run into by several people who seemed to have somewhere important to be. She was surprised by everyone's current state of disarray, or as much as you could be on the Shield carrier. Everyone was running around madly, and she had no idea why.

She shrugged to herself. If there was some kind of emergency, she would have heard about it.

Tess arrived in the lab to find something different about it. Instead of the single light that would turn on when she entered, all of the lights seemed to be lighting the room, and the machines in the lab were all operating. She stood there in wonder for a moment, seeing all the colorful machines glowing in the room, grabbing her attention. She had no doubt that she would have much difficulty trying to use any of the equipment, all of it looking much too complicated for her to understand.

As she walked over to her chair, Tess's headpiece began to crackle, signaling that a transmission was coming through.

_"Agents, prepare for ascent,"_ a voice told her, and then the static ended, and the message was gone.

That was a surprise to the woman. The Helicarrier hadn't been up in the air for a few months now, but she was excited for the change of pace. She liked the up in the air view more anyway.

Ascending on the carrier was usually very smooth, but everyone on board was still advised to be in some kind of seat or stationary as it did so in case something didn't go as plan. Already on her way there, she simply completed her trip to her chair, and sat down, once again taking her book in her hand.

She could feel the carrier beginning to rise a few minutes later, and she then looked out her window and onto the bridge. The large windows in front of the bridge showed the carrier rising from the waters of the sea and starting to climb in the skies, and it wasn't long before clouds were starting to get in the way of the window. Eventually she could feel the craft stop its ascending and even out, continuing in a straight path towards wherever they were going. The Helicarrier was flying.

Tess sat there for a moment, continuing to look out the window. She had seen the craft do this at least a dozen time, and yet every time it amazed her.

But while she was still in her thoughts, the sliding door to the lab suddenly opened, and Tess turned her head.

Walking into the lab with the same powerful and frightening grace she always knew her to have, was Agent Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, and she wasn't alone. Standing next to her was a man who stood a few inches taller than her, with tan skin and short, dark curly hair. He wasn't carrying anything with him, and instead seemed to be playing with his fingers nervously.

Natasha was surprised at first to see the woman there, but she quickly remembered that it was her normal spot, and that no one probably told her of the doctor's arrival, or if she knew, not when. Natasha felt a bit of anger at that; the agent had known Tess for a long time now. No one ever seemed to give the girl a chance, and if they did they'd know she was actually quite a humorous person, someone they'd like to be around.

She watched as Tess's eyes grew large from embarrassment as she rose from her seat and put her book down, obviously knowing she wasn't supposed to be there at that time. But the Black Widow, who had known the girl ever since she came to Shield, wasn't going to make her feel anymore uncomfortable. Plus, Tess might not even know who the man with her really was...

"Doctor Banner," Natasha calmly stated to the man, giving the woman a look of assurance. "This is Agent Theresa Lane. She likes to come here often so you might run into her a time or two." The agent gave Tess a small nod, signaling to her that it was fine she was there. Tess nodded back, relieved. Then, she faced the doctor.

He seemed to be older than her, not by too many years, but a few. He looked tired and slightly nervous, and kept glancing around the room as if looking for something he couldn't find. He wore a purple button-up and nice pants, and didn't look as if he really wanted to be there. When their eyes met, Tess gave the man a smile, and she noticed that he looked a bit surprised by that. She didn't think his reaction wasn't very astonishing, considering she was one of the few agents aboard that actually did smile. She didn't see a reason not to. He certainly didn't look like a threat.

She mouthed_ Hi_ to him, in a way that could have been mistaken for shyness on a normal person. Then, closing the space between them, Tess walked over to him and held out her hand, a show of hospitality and kindness towards him. The doctor seemed almost shocked at her actions, and he looked at her outstretched hand as if it was booby trapped somehow, some kind of trick. For a moment he didn't take it, but when Tess's smile fell a little, believing she had done something wrong, he slowly took it, giving her a firm shake.

He just couldn't believe that this agent was acting so civilly to him. Most of them just stared, avoided, or even glared at him. But her... She was kind.

"Hi," he answered her, a little offbeat, but Tess didn't mind. To her, he just seemed shy.

When their hands released, Tess turned to Natasha. Nodding to her, and the Black Widow nodding back, the young woman walked passed the two of them and out of the lab, back to her room.

* * *

It had taken Tess all of about 10 seconds to realize she didn't have anything to do in her room when she arrived there. Her books, which she had left in the lab, were the only non training activities she had to pass the time, and they were all the ones she had. Books circulated around the Helicarrier like diseases; when someone got over one, the next person acquired it, so all of her previously read books were all with other agents in their rooms. She was currently in her uniform, lying face down on her bed, contemplating whether or not to go back to the lab and see if she could retrieve her reading material, something she probably should have taken with her when she left earlier.

She sat up on the bed. It had been an hour since she had been there. Maybe the doctor wasn't even there anymore. It was a little passed one now, so maybe he went to lunch, was out talking to agents, taking a bathroom break, anything. All she knew was that with every passing minute confined in her room with nothing to do, she was slowly driving herself insane.

She thought of other activities she could partake in without going back to the lab, honestly trying to get her mind off her reading material.

She looked around her room.

There was paper and a pencil on her desk, she could do some sketching. She almost laughed at herself. Her stick figures were poor. She could go back to the rec room and train some more. That didn't sound particularly pleasing, however, considering she had already done that today and had cleaned up. She could go to the bridge and people watch. She hung her head. No. No one wanted her there, and she'd just get in the way.

So Tess was left with her previous option. Just going back to the lab and getting them. Mentally chiding herself for being so boring in the ways she spent her spare time, Tess got up from her bed and left the room, her sliding door sounding her exit. Taking her normal route, she made her way through the crowds of agents occupying the area, and walked up the short staircase to the doors to the lab, taking a deep breath before entering.

Carefully walking into the lab, Tess's hopes that the doctor wasn't there quickly diminished when she saw the man sitting on a stool next to the end of the table, looking at a computer as he worked, a pair of glasses upon his face as he looked intently at the screen. Upon hearing the door open, Doctor Banner looked up from his diagrams to see who it was, a surprised look entering his face when he saw the agent from earlier. Quickly removing his spectacles from his nose, he looked up at the woman, and began to slowly rise from his seat, not really knowing how to begin.

Tess didn't exactly determine how she was going to do this. She didn't like having to talk to strangers unless she had to, but for now she wanted to keep from having to do that. Since he seemed to not be doing much talking at the moment either, she just gave him a smile and awkwardly gestured over to where her books were. Quickly walking over to their location, she was surprised to find them on top of her chair, instead of under it like she left them. Looking down at them with a confused look, she looked over to Banner and saw that he was watching her, his face offering light amusement and an explanation.

"I figured those were yours," he explained to her, as the woman picked them up and put them securely in her arms. "I saw them on the floor and then remembered that was where you were sitting when I got here."

She nodded agreeingly, not really knowing what to do. Neither of them did.

"So, umm," the doctor continued, seemingly at a loss for words. The woman was nice enough to actually acknowledge him as a person and not just... stay away, afraid. He wanted to at least talk a little, not just stand there like his normal, unsocial self. Unsure of what to do next, he then looked at the pile in her hands. "I see you're reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Do you, umm... like it?"

_Did she like it?_ she thought to herself. She didn't just like it. She was entranced by it. She thought it was marvelously written, and if given the chance, which she never was, she could have gone on for hours about the characters and the themes and the injustices that occurred in the book. She had actually finished it awhile ago, but kept it on the pile anyway, not wanting to give it up just yet.

Of course, she couldn't say any of these things. Instead she just nodded enthusiastically, trying to get across her love of the novel without words.

Banner wondered why she nodded instead of saying anything, but knew what she meant. "Yeah, I did, too." Come on, Banner, he mentally chided himself. You're forty, you could think of something more to talk about than books. But to be honest, he couldn't. This was one of the first conversations that didn't involve medical business or work he'd had in a long time. So he continued with this subject. "What, umm, did you like about it?" Yeah, smooth Banner.

Tess didn't know how to respond, and she really couldn't. Anything that couldn't be answered with a nod or smile, she wasn't able to respond to without signing or talking. So she just shrugged. She didn't want to be rude; she could tell the doctor was making an effort, an awkward one but one all the same, but she didn't want to speak unless needed.

The Doctor was hoping for more of an answer than that, and he'd be lying if he said it didn't disappoint him. The agent didn't want to speak with him, and even though he was used to it, it still stung a little. He thought this woman was different. He noticed by the way she acted that she seemed as if she didn't want to talk, and was making an effort not to. Her actions suggested discomfort, and he could only suspect that it was because of who, or what, she was talking to; him.

He hung his head.

"I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable," he mumbled, as he once again faced the screen he was previously on, starting to get back to work. "Don't feel the need to stay, it won't make me... upset."

The good doctor, however, didn't realize that the agent he was speaking to didn't hear a word he said.

Because his head wasn't facing her, Tess couldn't read his lips, and his mumbling didn't allow her to hear him. So she was left to stand in the middle of the lab, wondering what he had just said. She suddenly felt embarrassed. She hated when this happened, and he wasn't facing her at the moment, so she couldn't give him a confused look to have him repeat himself. However, judging by his mannerisms and the way he didn't look back up at her, she quickly came to the conclusion that he had taken her silence to heart. She was surprised how quickly he shut down after this, and she felt terrible that he did. She wished he understood why she was acting this way.

Suddenly, Tess felt angry. Angry at herself that she let her embarrassment hurt this man. She hated it when she did this to people because she didn't want them to hear the way she spoke, and that her own discomfort was keeping her from branching out. So, for the moment, she put her own personal insecurities aside and decided that she wasn't going to let this man go without an answer.

Tess then walked closer to the large table in the room and set her small pile of literature down, turning towards the man, who had yet to look in her direction.

_"I'm sorry,"_ she spoke to the man, trying to enunciate every word that left her mouth as best she could._ "But I can't hear you unless you're looking at me."_

Tess mentally cringed at hearing her voice. She slurred, mispronounced, and chopped so many words as she spoke, but she had gotten her sentence across. Grammarly, she spoke almost perfect English; it was just the way she said it that made her hard to understand.

She watched as the doctor in front of her paused upon hearing her, and he slowly rose his head to meet her eyes. She smirked slightly, but averted her gaze from his for a moment before meeting his eyes again. He looked up at her in shock, his eyes wide and his mouth gaping slightly.

"I'm sorry," he apologized then. "I didn't know." He didn't have to say it; she knew what he meant.

_"It's fine,"_ she answered him, giving him a small smile._ "I'm sorry I wasn't responding. I don't like to talk when I don't have too."_

"Okay," he responded, seeming to be rethinking everything he was previously going through his head.

And then suddenly, Doctor Banner did something that surprised her.

_So I assume you sign then?_ he signed to her, mouthing his sentence as he did so.

It was Tess's turn to be shocked, her eyes growing wide as she watched him.

_Yes,_ she signed back to him disbelievingly. You_ do?_

He laughed slightly at this, and she was taken back at his response too; a smile suited him.

_Yes. Before I was in India I spent some time in West Africa, and I had some deaf patients. ASL was the only way I could figure out what was wrong with them. I'm not great, but I can keep a conversation._

Tess carefully watched him as he signed. His signing wasn't perfect, as he had said, and he had to fingerspell some words he didn't know that had signs, but that was hardly an issue. He was trying, and making an effort, and that was all that mattered. Plus, he really wasn't that bad. In fact, contradicting what he had said earlier, he was pretty good at it.

_No, no,_ Tess responded, a large smile on her face._ You're doing great._

He smirked a bit as he gave a short, breathy chuckle._ Thanks. _

Tess couldn't stop smiling at the moment. There was another signer on board, someone she could talk to. She didn't really until thatize moment how much she just wanted that, someone who knew what she was saying. And now she had someone, even if it was just for a short period of time.

_Call me Tess,_ she told him then. Agent Lane wasn't going to cut it now; Tess was.

"Tess?" The doctor said out loud, just to make sure. She smiled and nodded. "Okay, Tess." He then fingerspelled something._ B-R-U-C-E._ "Call me, Bruce."

Tess nodded in understanding. _Ok, Bruce._

She paused for a moment, the two of them taking in what had just happened. Tess who was still standing there, bit her lip. Now that she was acquainted with Bruce she didn't exactly feel the need to leave just yet. So she grabbed her books off the table and slowly brought them back over to her chair, taking her usual seat as the doctor watched, smirking at her actions. She laughed a little, but then remembered something. Placing the books on the ground, she began to sign once more.

_So what did you say before then?_ she asked him. His smirk fell a little, but he answered her.

_I said, I'm sorry if you feel uncomfortable around me,_ he responded,_ and that you could leave if you wanted to._

Tess looked at him with a questioning look. _Why would I be uncomfortable around you?_

His eyes fell for a moment. _Most people... just are, I guess._

She smiled._ Well, as we have already established, I'm not like most people._

Bruce smiled meekly for a moment, before turning back to the computer screen, as Tess returned to her book.


	4. Chapter 4

_Please review and tell me what you think!_

* * *

Bruce was looking intently at the screen in front of him, trying to see if he could determine the location of the Tesseract through the spectrometers he had told Fury to set up. There wasn't really much else he could do besides check on the meters every once in awhile and recalibrate them to the specific gamma rays he was looking for, but that would only take a few moments at the most. So it left him plenty of time to look up from his screen, and watch the agent in front of him.

Tess had moved her chair a little while ago to sit on the other side of the table in front of him, which made it easier for her to see him if they wanted to sign. He still couldn't believe that he hadn't realized she was deaf earlier, but he didn't really blame himself that much. Normally when people avoided him or didn't want to talk, it was because they didn't want to bring out the other guy. But her, she treated him like any other person. He still couldn't comprehend her kindness, and yet, it begged the question, did she know about him? Do she really know who, or what, he was?

Banner watched her read for a few minutes, her long brown hair spilling over face with her eyes intently glued to the page. He saw that she was reading The Great Gatsby, and that she was good chunk through the book. As her hair moved off of her head a bit more he was able to see her cochlear headpiece, the final sign that she was really who she said she was. That made Bruce feel a little better, even though he wouldn't have challenged it before.

After a moment or two he turned back to his work, once again seeing the progress of the machines barely progressing. He removed his glasses again to rub the bridge of his nose and temples. He was starting to get a headache. He really wished he could make this go faster...

Suddenly, there was a light tapping on his arm. He looked over to see Tess looking over at him, her brown eyes bright with amusement.

_You know, there was something I forgot to ask you,_ she said to him, a smirk playing on her lips. Her expression made Bruce smile. He didn't get to see honest smiles directed to him often.

He raised his brow raised slightly, now curious. _Ok, shoot._

_What's your name sign?_ she questioned him._ As short as 'Bruce' is, it'll be better than me having to spell it all the time._

Bruce was confused for a moment before he realized what she was talking about. A name sign, a sign that specifically referred to him himself. He thought for a moment, and then remembered that he didn't really have one.

_Actually, I don't have one,_ he told her. _I was always just 'Doctor' to all my patients._

Tess grinned at him. _Then that means I get to pick._

He chuckled at her expression. _Should I be worried?_

She rolled her eyes at him. _Of course not._

Lane seemed to mull over this for a few moments, but it didn't take her long to think of a solution. Making a letter B in her hand, she placed it sideways over her forehead, a smirk on her face.

_Bruce,_ she mouthed to him. Bruce smiled down at the girl.

_Works for me._ He liked it, and though he wouldn't admit it, he liked it more because someone had picked it out for him, that she had actually put some thought into it. _What's yours then?_

Tess made a T in her hand and made one small circle with it. Bruce nodded in approval, smiling down at her. She returned it.

_I'm glad you're smiling,_ she told him then._ You seem stressed._ He sighed then and shrugged a little, scratching the back of his head.

_I just wish this scan would go faster,_ he told her, taking the seat in front of her. He turned and yawned a little then, making the woman bit her lip. He did look awfully tired. She noticed that when he first came in.

_You look like you should be getting some sleep,_ she answered, raising an eyebrow at him.

Bruce laughed once without humor, giving Tess an almost sad look.

_No, no, I can't,_ he told her. _I just need to get this done, and then I can leave. And I... can't really sleep well anyway._

_Oh..._ Tess wasn't going to lie. She didn't want him to go just yet. She had just met him, and she liked having someone to talk to. And he couldn't sleep?_ So... you said you were in India. Is that where you came here from?_ Bruce nodded. _So why were you there?_

Banner's face looked up, surprised. He supposed that this would be a good time to see if she really knew about him.

_You're an agent, shouldn't you know?_ he asked her cautiously, but to his surprise, she laughed.

_I may have level seven clearance, but they don't tell me much,_ she told him, the look on her face a cross between humor and... distaste, almost . _The only reason I have such high clearance is because-_ She cut herself off. She wasn't really supposed to tell anyone about her abilities, and even though she trusted Bruce (Did she? she wondered to herself. She think she did), she didn't want to get on Fury's bad side. She continued then with a new sentence._ They just, think I could be useful. I'm very grateful to Shield. They really got me out of a mess, but I don't really... fit in around here._

Seeing the look on her face, Bruce felt a little pity for the woman. He nodded at her, agreeing with her statement.

_I know what that feels like,_ he told her sadly.

Tess didn't respond to him for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. It did hurt sometimes, not being able to fit in with the people you're around constantly, day and night. But she had always pushed back the feeling. She had gone her whole life living of out of touch with everyone.

But at the moment, she wasn't so out of touch. So she looked up at Bruce and continued, answering his statement with a question.

_Why?_

Bruce bit his lip for a moment. He didn't want to give her a direct answer, just say what he was. He wanted to keep the other guy a secret from her for as long as possible. He knew it would come out eventually; someone else would tell her if he didn't. But he didn't want that to happen... not yet. So he tried to give her the best explanation he could without really telling her.

_Let's just say I'm like you... in the sense that Shield thinks I could be useful. I was in India because I wanted to get away from everyone, off the map. I was a doctor for the people there and I thought I was off the grid, but... Shield found me, and here I am, looking for the Tesseract and... waiting._

_The Tesseract?_ she thought to herself. _That was what this was all about_? Phil had told her about it before, that it was an extraterrestrial unlimited energy source, and that it was Shield's job to make sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands. It was one of the few Shield secrets she did know about. It was coming together for her a bit now. Phil went to Selvig's base, where the Tesseract was located. But had it been stolen? She guessed that made sense if Bruce was looking for it, and it would explain why everyone was carrying on on base. But by who was it taken?

But despite that, Tess picked up on something as he spoke. He never said it, but she knew that he wasn't just talking about him helping to find the Tesseract that Shield would find him useful. If it was just that she knew he probably wouldn't be so... quiet, have that bitter look in his eyes. There was something else to Bruce Banner that she didn't know about, she was sure of it. He was different, and if he was different like her...

_You're not just talking about finding the Tesseract, are you?_ she said then. _About being useful._

The doctor's head hung for a moment, and then he met her eyes again, a sadness in them.

_What can you do?_ she asked him. Whatever it was that was making him so unhappy, he needed to talk about it._ Bruce... if you need to talk about it... I'm here._

Bruce didn't respond.

_Could you show me then?_

Bruce cringed, both mentally and physically. That was not going to happen, especially not in front of her.

_No,_ he said then, his tone one not to be argued with or swayed._ I would... make a mess. And hurt someone._ It seemed to physically pain him to say that, and Tess's heart broke a little for him

Tess nodded, and signed _Ok,_ not going to go on. She didn't want to push him.

_ But thank you,_ he told her then, a sincere look of gratefulness in his eyes. _No one's offered to just... 'talk' before. Normally it's shoot first, questions later._

She gave him a sympathetic smile. Tess didn't know what it was, but if he ever wanted, or needed, someone to be there, she would be. So she reached over across the table, giving his hand a gently, friendly squeeze. She released it, and then answered, _Of course._

Bruce wanted to change the subject then. All of these things Tess was reintroducing him to, kindness, sympathy, friendship, touch... they were making his head spin, and he needed to move on before he said something stupid, because he did not want to ruin this. So he decided to go in an opposite direction, and asked a question that he never really did get answered about an hour ago. He smirked at little at her.

_So,_ he began. _You like_ To Kill a Mockingbird_ then._

Tess's eyes lit up, and she nodded enthusiastically again.

_Yes,_ she answered immediately._ It's absolutely one of my favorites, and I could probably read it ten times if I needed to._

Bruce smiled at her reaction._ So what do you like so much about it?_ he asked curiously.

The agent thought for a moment before answering._ There's just something about the characters that make them so real to me, so relatable that I can feel for them. Scout, Atticus, Tom Robinson, they just feel like actual people. Oh, and Boo, especially Boo. Him I have the most sympathy for, and I think he adds so much to the book._

He smirked a bit, and gave her a questioning look._ Why Boo? _

_Because everyone though Boo was a monster when he was really just... different. Good, but different, and it takes people awhile to realize those two things are usually one in the same._

Bruce froze after her statement, and wasn't able to respond. His eyes lingered on hers for a moment, her words hitting him like a car, but he didn't say why. Tess seemed to notice that her words had this effect, and she gave him a concerned look, asking him what was wrong. He simply told her it was nothing, and that he agreed with her.


	5. Chapter 5

_Please review and tell me what you think!_

* * *

Bruce checked the monitor once again, hoping for some kind of improvement, but unfortunately for him, the progress was still slim. If Shield had access to and set up as many spectrometers as they said they did, this shouldn't have taken so long, he thought to himself. But he was beginning to wonder if he had them set for the correct gamma ray cluster recognition. It was very possible that he didn't. It was hard to trace gamma rays without a direct sample of what he was looking for, and right now he was simply going off charts with calculations on them for an idea of the Tesseract's signature. He sighed and shook his head. This was going to take longer than he wanted._ Well, at least I have company with me..._

Something then caught the doctor's eye, a movement he wasn't expecting, making him look over to the sides of the entrance to the lab, where windows were. To his annoyance and disbelief, he saw that looking in at them were multiple agents, about three or four, all of whom were standing at the window, watching himself and Tess. They were trying to be discreet about it, but it was still easy to tell what they were doing. So when Bruce realized what he and Tess were being watched like animals in a zoo, he very pointedly stood up straighter, crossed his arms, and glared at the agents, making them quickly disperse. It was times like these at least, that his unwanted reputation helped.

Bruce then lost his rigid position and shook his head. The gall of some people astounded him. But just then, Tess happened to look up from her novel, and seeing his annoyed state, she gave him a questioning look.

_It's nothing,_ he told her, waving her off, not wanting to make her feel self conscious like he did then. However, she crossed her arms and raised her brow at him, a look that said she wasn't taking that for an answer. He sighed._ There were just some agents looking in here, that's all. _

_Oh,_ she responded, thinking it was something much worse than that. _I guess they're just surprised you're talking to me._

His eyes narrowed at her, a confused look on her face._ What?_ he asked her. If anything it would be the other way around, why was _she_ talking to_ him?_

She shrugged._ No one really wants to try and talk me. Like I said before, I don't really fit in around here, I'm kind of ignored._

That struck him a little inside. Tess was so kind, and thoughtful, and_ funny._ In the last nine hours they had been together in the lab, she had made him laugh like he hadn't in a very long time. When he was with her he felt... normal, and she made him forget why he was there in the first place. He couldn't even begin to comprehend someone not wanting to talk to her. Sure there was a language barrier in a way, but to not even try and get to know her, and just ignore her? It aggravated him, even made him... angry.

_Why?_ he questioned her then, giving her disbelieving stare.

Tess bit her lip for a moment before answering, trying to think of a way to explain it right.

_I came here two years ago,_ she began, _and I received some training, a uniform, and a title. But since then, I was never put on a mission, I don't have normal agent duties, and all Fury really has me doing is training, and after my training for the day, I can just walk around as long as I don't screw anything up. That's a very leisurely life for someone in this field. And yet, I have level seven clearance, one of the highest on this ship. Many of these agents, who work their asses off everyday, will probably never get there, and many of them resent me for it. They don't understand how I got to where I am for, what they think, was me doing nothing._

_So, how did you get this far then?_ he asked her. He was only going to ask, but if she couldn't, or didn't want to, tell him, he would leave it go.

Tess smiled gently. She couldn't tell him everything, even though she wanted to, but she would give him something.

_I'm different,_ she told him blatantly. _I'm an X gene carrier, so I can do... special things. I can't really say more than that but... that's why. Fury just wants me practicing, mastering what I can do. Nobody except for a very few people know that about me._ She laughed then._ Congratulations, you've been promoted to level seven knowledge. _

Bruce smirked a little, down casting his eyes before looking back up at her._ You can trust me,_ he told her then, his face full of honesty and assurance. He would never tell anyone her secret.

She smiled at him then._ I know I can._

Suddenly, into the lab walked Agent Coulson, suited and with a smile on his face. He always did have a friendly aura about him, but Tess knew more than anyone how dangerous he could be. Her face lit up at seeing the agent, being that it was the first time in three days she had. Phil's, however, upon seeing the woman in the lab, turned surprised to see her there, but he quickly hid it, smiling at her.

_"Hey, Tess,"_ he spoke and signed. She gave him a _Hey_ back and returned his smile. He then turned to the doctor, continuing his signing so that she could see what he was saying._ "Doctor Banner, they're requesting you in the briefing room. I'm here to escort you there." _

Bruce looked surprised for a moment, but he nodded after a short paused. He then turned to Tess, a surprised and slightly nervous look on his face.

_I guess I'll be back in a bit,_ he signed to her, and she nodded in response.

_I'll be here when you get back,_ she said with a smile, and a relieved look came on his face. He smiled as she gave him a little goodbye wave, and the doctor walked out the door. Coulson stayed behind a little, an almost amused look on his face as he regarded Tess.

_What?_ she asked him, smirking a little at his look, not seeing what was so funny to him.

_I've just... never seen him smile before,_ the agent responded with a light-hearted shrug. He then gave a little wave and walked out afterwards, leaving Tess in the lab alone.

* * *

It was getting late, the windows to the outside of the Helicarrier letting in darkness instead of light. Tess had no idea what time it was, but all she knew what that she was tired, the day having been long for her. Normally she would have gone to bed much earlier, but because she had Bruce to talk to, she had stayed up for obvious reasons. Bruce had been gone for about fifteen minutes now, and she had no idea when he was going to get back, but because he was gone, she was feeling her eyelids get heavy. Now that exhaustion was talking over, she couldn't help but lie her head on the table in front of her, over her book, and drift off to sleep.

It was over an hour before Bruce was able to return to the lab, and this time, and he didn't come alone. Accompanying him back to help him work was Tony Stark, Iron Man. There were some agents that were going to be bringing up Loki's scepter soon for them to work with, and hopefully it would help them trace the Tesseract, being that it was made of the same energy that the cube was. Stark would also probably make the process go faster, being that he was more the computer genius than Bruce was.

Upon entering the lab, Bruce immediately set his sights for Tess, and smiled to see her sleeping on the table she was at, The Great Gatsby nestled under her arms. He really didn't want to wake her, but the agents had no other place to put the scepter, and he didn't want her too close to it, not knowing what it was capable of. And after all of Loki's little... comments, he wasn't going to take any chances.

"Oh, do I get one too?" Tony said suggestively to Bruce, referring to the sleeping woman as they walked in. Bruce turned to glare at him and rolled his eyes, walking over to her to wake her up. Seeing his reaction, Tony asked, "She with you or something?"

"No, she's an agent here," Bruce responded to him, rubbing Tess's shoulder slightly to wake her. She stirred a little and opened her eyes to see the doctor looking down at her, a smirk on his face. She sat up slowly and stretched her arms, getting the sleepy kinks out. She then looked up at Bruce and smiled, waving a little.

Tony scoffed at him, seeing Bruce and the woman interact. "Doesn't look like it."

Tess then sat up, seeing that there was another person in the room. Looking up at Bruce for some sort of explanation, he gave her an almost amused look before telling her.

_"This is Tony Stark,"_ Bruce spoke and signed to her. _"He's going to help locate the Tesseract."_

_Oh,_ she said to him._ I was wondering why he looked familiar. You don't need level seven clearance to know that Stark is a pain in Shield's ass._ Bruce laughed at the statement.

Tony look at him with a raised brow, wanting to know what the two had exchanged. Though he was a little surprised to see that the agent was deaf and that Bruce was signing with her, he hardly thought it was anything that shocking. He had seen more surprising things today than the two of them having a little chat. But he still wanted to know, more so because he was 90% certain they were talking about him.

_"Yeah, I can see that,"_ Bruce then continued, recovering himself a little._ "Tony, this is Agent Tess Lane."_

Tess got up from her seat then, and straightened her hair with her hands. She then walked over to Tony, outstretching her hand to shake with his.

_Hi,_ she mouthed to him, as he took her hand and shook it. He gave her the famous Tony Stark smile.

"Hello, Agent Lane," he said politely to her, releasing her hand. "Tell me, what's a nice agent like yourself doing hanging out with Mr. Big, Green, and Mean over there. Is it for his looks, or his extensive vocabulary?"

_"Tony..."_ Bruce hissed at him warningly, his eyes narrowing at the man. Of all people, it would be Tony to let this secret slip, but that wasn't the only reason why. He didn't want him talking about anything relating to a relationship with Tess... even though the idea wasn't exactly unappealing.

Stark looked over at Banner, a smirk on his face. But when he saw the look on his colleague's, he ceased his teasing, about the other guy more so, and instead turned back to the woman in front of him.

Tess was at a loss for words, not only because of what the man was implying about Bruce and her, but because of something he said._ Mr. Big, Green, and Mean?_ Bruce wasn't anything of those things in the slightest. Was it a joke she wasn't getting? A _nickname_ for some unexplained reason? She'd ask Bruce about it later.

Tess chuckled a little before she answered him.

_"The looks, definitely, the looks,"_ she spoke to Tony with a smile. She would be lying if she said she didn't surprise herself a little. She never spoke without thinking about it first, but in that moment it just... came out. Where had that come from? But to surprise herself even more, she continued. _"The brains don't hurt, though."_

Tony looked down at the girl and smiled, laughing heartily at her statement. The way she had spoken didn't mattered in the slightest; he had gotten every word. When he finished he looked over at the doctor, an amused smirk on his face.

"Hear that, Banner?" he said to the man. "You still got it!"

Tess turned around to look at Bruce. His face was a light crimson, and his eyes were cast towards the floor as an embarrassed smile played on his lips. After a moment he looked up at the agent and gave her a sort of chuckle, him turning a little redder when they locked eyes again. Lane rolled her eyes at him amusingly, and she signed _Come on,_ as she walked over to him, lacing her arm through his and walking him back over to his usual seat.

Neither of them minded the proximity. In fact, they both rather enjoyed it.


	6. Chapter 6

_Please review and tell me what you think!_

* * *

After about fifteen minutes of Bruce, Tess, and Tony up in the lab together, three agents came into the workspace, two of them carrying the scepter and the other holding a stand to put it on. As they carefully placed the large glowing weapon on the stand, very slowly, as if it would fire at any moment, the three others stayed off to the side, of out any blast zone in case it would go off. When the agents were done, they left without a word, quickly exiting the lab.

Bruce and Tony quickly got to work, Bruce retrieving a scanner and holding it over the scepter. He looked over at one of the monitors to observe the readings from the weapon, and began to speak with Tony a little, him on another computer on the other side of the lab.

Tess asked if she could help them in any way, but when they said they were fine she actually felt a bit thankful. Ever since the agents left the room, she had begun feeling the energy of the scepter all around her, and she had never felt something so powerful before. The scepter's power felt like it was suffocating her, making her stomach twist and her head ache.

Tess wasn't used to this. She herself was a powerful energy manipulator, her having been told by multiple Shield scientists that her power grid was well above average of a normal mutant. She hoped she would be able to get used to it soon, however, after a few minutes, Tess felt like she couldn't stand, so she took a seat in one of the corners of the room, away from the scepter.

She looked over at the two men working around the weapon, taking scans and looking at their computers as they talked. She was thankful that they didn't seem to be feeling anything, but she wasn't surprised. Normally she was the only one to feel spikes in these kinds of things.

As he was working, Bruce, who had seen her move to her seat away from them, looked up to see her looking very uncomfortable. Confusion entering his face, he put down the scanner for a moment, waving his hands slightly for her to look over at him, Tony noticing this and looking up at the two. She saw him and looked over.

Are you ok? he asked her. She nodded a little.

I'm fine, she lied to him. She really just wanted to work herself through it, but she was having difficulty doing so at the moment. Bruce, however, wasn't buying it, and he crossed his arms to give her a pointed look. Defeated, and knowing he wouldn't let it go, she shook her head.

There's something about the scepter, she told him. It's making me feel... weird.

Bruce's face grew concerned. He quickly walked over to her, crouching down in front of her and the chair.

What's wrong? he asked her, his medical self coming out. He started to look her over, trying to find if there were any clues as to what was bothering her.

"What happened?" Tony questioned, walking over to them. Even the man of iron was now concerned.

"There's something about the scepter that's making her sick," Bruce told him without taking his eyes off her. "What hurts?"

My head is splitting, and I feel... nauseous. She also felt dizzy, but she didn't want to mention it. Bruce looked... really worried.

The doctor put the back of his hand to her head, feeling her temperature, and then took took her hand, checking her pulse. Her head was a little warmer than it should have been and her pulse was a quick, but it didn't explain much.

"Are you sure it's the scepter?"

She nodded. I know it is. I can feel the energy.

He wasn't exactly sure what she meant, but he didn't challenge it, knowing it probably had something to do with her X-gene abilities. It would've probably helped him more if he knew what they were, but he knew he couldn't ask.

Tess didn't want a big fuss being made about her, and she knew that the two needed to get back to work. So she decided she just needed to get out of the lab for a little, get up and moving around, away from the energy making her ill.

I'm going to take a walk, get some air, Tess told him. Maybe it would be good for her. It had been awhile since she left the lab, anyway. It would give her a chance to stretch her legs and grab them all some food since the caf was open 24/7.

"You sure you want to leave?" Bruce asked her cautiously, slightly wary of the idea. He didn't want her walking around alone if she was a fall risk. "You want one of us to go with you?"

"Yeah, we don't want you passing out on us," Tony added, his arms crossed, getting that she wanted to leave the lab for a bit.

Tess smiled at them a little, shaking her head. I'll be ok. I'll go down to the cafeteria, bring us some dinner. I'll be back soon, ok?

Bruce sighed but nodded. "Ok."

Tess smiled again as Bruce quickly stood up, helping her get to her feet. After a quick Thanks, Tess left the lab, Bruce looking after her as she left. He watched her as she exited the hallway and went down the stairs, and even when he could no longer see her, he still stood there for a few moments, to him the room feeling a bit darker now.

"Where's she going?" Tony asked him, bringing him out of his trace.

"She's walking down to the cafeteria to get some air," he told him, still looking towards the doors. "She's going to bring up something for us."

Nodding, Tony smirked at him, a knowing look on his face.

"So did you tell her yet?" the playboy asked the doctor suddenly. Bruce turned towards him, giving him a raised brow.

"Tell her what?"

"How you feel about her."

Bruce froze, his feet feeling like that were nailed to the floor, and his face quickly changed from a pale tone to a deep red. The doctor shook his head a little and walked away from the man, towards the computers and the scepter. His arms still crossed, Tony walked over to him slowly.

"I'll take that as a no..."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Tony," the doctor mumbled at him, refusing to look him in the eye.

"Oh, really? Because I've been here in the lab for less than an hour and I've seen more chemistry between you two than in the test tubes you work with."

Bruce kept his gaze to the computer screens. He couldn't deny it, really; he had feelings for Tess. Her smile, her presence, her personality, her _everything, _had pulled him in like a riptide he didn't want to get out of. But he couldn't offer her anything besides a life on the run with the other guy. And that's what held him back.

"I've only known her for a day, Tony," Bruce said to the man next to him, not even looking up from his work. "That's not long enough for me to _tell_ her anything."

"Oh please, Brucey," Tony said then, crossing his arms and giving him a knowing smirk. "I've known girls for shorter than that and have already made 'committed' relationships. Plus, in that day, how long was it that you two were together? Obviously long enough for you to start feeling something for her."

Bruce's hands froze on the screen in front of him, but he still didn't look over at Stark. "She doesn't know about... the other guy."

Tony paused at that, his quick wit failing him at the moment. "Well, why haven't you told her?"

The doctor scoffed at the man of iron, looking over at him with a disbelieving look. "Tell me Tony, how does this sound?" he all but spat at the man. "'Hey Tess, by the way, I forgot to mention that I can turn into a large, raging juggernaut at any time during the day, and because of that, I've leveled cities, caused numerous casualties, and have been on the run for years now. When we both get off this ship, do you wanna get some dinner?'" He broke his gaze from Stark, turning his eyes towards the ground. He calmed himself down slightly, his voice barely a whisper when he continued. "I don't want to scare her away, Tony. She's was the first person to treat me like I wasn't a monster in a very long time and... I don't want to ruin that."

Tony frowned a little, giving the man a puppy dog look. "I'm offended."

Bruce looked over at him and saw his expression, and gave him a small eye roll. "You're different, Tony."

"Yeah, I'll give you that. I'm not a cute brunette who can rock a tight uniform. Though the cute thing could be argued, and I'm sure if I was given the uniform to try on..."

The doctor sighed and began to rub the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on.

"Bruce," Tony said to him, now very serious, wanting to console the man. "Tess strikes me as the kind of girl who can handle you telling her the truth. And wouldn't you rather tell her now instead waiting? If something happens... She would want to know before the other guy comes out." Tony paused for a moment, letting his words sink in to the doctor. "You like this girl, right?"

Not even looking up at him, Bruce said, "Yes," no room for argument in his voice. Tony smiled.

"Then there you have it. That's enough reason to tell her. I promise, after you speak your peace and all this is over, I'll pay for your first date. No expense will be spared; you will have the finest wines, cuisine, transportation... She'll think you're a real stud, well, more so than she already does."

Bruce looked over at him, opening his mouth slightly as if he was about to speak, but then closed it. But he then thought of Tess, her sitting in the corner of the room, her nose in her book as always. His chest tightened a little seeing this picture, the one he had grown accustomed to and made him smile. The thought of her being afraid of him was painful. But he knew he needed to tell her; if he ever wanted something more with her... she had to know.

"Okay," Bruce said softly. "I'll tell her."

* * *

When Tess had first walked back into the lab again, a tray of food in her hands, she was once again hit with the energy of scepter, its powerful waves moving through her. But after her walk through the carrier and being able to clear her head, and because she was prepared for it this time, she was able to get used to it a bit easier, no longer feeling horribly ill. She could still feel it, but being near it wasn't as big a deal as it was a half an hour ago.

When she returned, she was greeted by a relieved Bruce, who once again checked her temperature and proceeded to ask her how she was feeling, looking her over for any signs of sickness. Laughing at his fretting, she told him she was feeling much better, and that though she could still feel the scepter's energy, it wasn't bothering her as much as before. She then offered him the tray she was holding, over loaded with food and snacks.

_I never asked you what you eat_, she explained to him with a chuckle, when his eyes widened at the amount of food. _So I got a bunch of different things and figured the three of us could manage it._

Bruce smiled, laughing at her explanation.

_No, this all looks great,_ Tess, thanks, he assured her, taking the tray and leading her over to another table by where he was working. Tony, who had been working on another computer in the corner of the room, was waved over by the agent and motioned to take whatever. His nose wrinkled slightly.

"So what does Shield serve its agents, leftover alien parts?" he said snarkily, a bit wary of the food. Tess rolled her eyes, signing _No_ to him, and placing in front of him a wrapped cheeseburger and a side of French fries. Picking up one of the fries, she ate it in front of him and gave him a thumbs up. He shrugged and unwrapped the burger, taking a bite and determining it was satisfactory before continuing to have the rest for his dinner. Tess also threw him a water and a packet of blueberries to complete his meal.

Bruce took a water and a packet of trail mix, and for his meal choose the curry chicken and rice that was on the tray, grabbing some utensils also. Tess picked herself the slice of mushroom pizza that was on the tray along with an apple, and Bruce and her sat next to each other, Bruce continuing his work as Tess watched. The doctor told her that they had almost calibrated all the spectrometers to the correct gamma ray signature, and that they would soon but able to do one final scan and get them all running. The three then stayed like this for awhile, silence mostly between them.

In the next hour that followed, Tess found Tony doing something strange. Ever since she had returned to the lab, she had noticed that Tony had been sitting in a chair at the end of the table, watching a computer screen that her and Bruce couldn't see from their view, looking at it intently as if he was trying to burn a hole in the screen with his eyes. Occasionally, he would glance up their way, but only for a second or two before quickly returning to the screen, making Tess curious as to what he was doing. It confused her, but whenever she looked to Bruce for answers, he would shrug and say he didn't know either.

However, when the hour was over, the man of iron shut down his computer screen, and very conspicuously move from his seat, going to stand in front of the two. When the two looked up at him, he took a moment, as if to build up the tension. Bruce and Tess looked at each other for a moment, looking to each other for answers, and then turned back to the man.

And then, to their amazement, Tony Stark began to sign.

_"Alright,"_ the man spoke and signed simultaneously. "_I think this will make things a little easier for all of us."_

Tess and Bruce both stared at him wide eyed, their mouths agape. The two shared a look, and then turned turned back towards him. His movements for the most part were good, with short breaks here and there, but it was still too good for someone who had just turned on his computer an hour ago. Tess, surprised but not entirely convinced, decided to test him.

_I thought you didn't sign!_ she said to him, a shocked look on her face.

_"Well, my dear Tess, that was an hour ago, and that hour has passed. Since then, I have invested myself in learning as much can about the beautiful and expressive communication that is American Sign Language." _Both Tess and Bruce rolled their eyes at this statement_. "I have scouted multiple websites, created many accounts, all of my usernames being ironhands01, and downloaded two apps, because surprisingly, Shield has terrific wifi."_

_That's impossible,_ Tess said, still not believing him.

_"And yet, here I am, signing away. Super-genius, remember?"_ he responded with a smile. "_Last night I became an expert in astrophysics, and today, I have learned a language. Even I impress myself sometimes."_

The agent shook her head in exasperation, and didn't even bother to sign, only mouthing,_ Holy shit._

_"Aw, I _didn't_ however, learn any swears. If you would be so kind as to teach me some of those later, I can promise you a fine bottle of Chardonnay, and a guest room in Stark Towers."_

Tess rolled her eyes at his statement.

Suddenly, there was a beeping in the corner of the room, and Bruce and Tony both looked towards the scepter, and then to each other.

_"Looks like we're finally in business,"_ Bruce clarified, and the three got up, the two men of science both taking their usual spots and the agent taking a seat away from them, staying out of the way. Bruce picked up the scanner once more, and began to read ratings from the scepter.

"The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract," he observed. "But it's gonna take weeks to process." His face scowled a little at this, but remembered again that he wasn't alone.

"If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster," Tony continued, "we can clock this around six hundred teraflops." The man looked over at Bruce, obviously impressed with himself once again that day.

Bruce smirked, knowing it was some of Tony's own equipment doing the work. "All I packed was a tooth brush."

Tony smiled. "You know, you should come by Stark Towers sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it, it's candy land."

The doctor gave a look that was somewhere between a smirk and frown. He looked over to see if Tess was watching them, but thankfully she was looking out one of the windows and down on the people below instead.

"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York I kind of broke...Harlem."

"Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension. No surprises. And you can bring a friend if you'd like."

Before the doctor had time to process the last sentence he spoke, Tony poked Bruce with a small electrical rod, making the man jump and yell "Ow!" from a bolt of electricity hitting him. Tess quickly looked over to see what had made the doctor cry out, only for her view to quickly be blocked by a body of red, white, and blue that had walked into the lab only a moment before. She was confused for a moment, until she realized who it was.

"Nothing?" Tony said disbelieving to Banner, putting down the rod.

Steve Rogers, Captain America, currently sporting his star-spangled battle garb, glared at the man of iron, his eyes blazing. Tess had heard much about the super soldier, mostly from Phil. She had recognized him from file photos taken of him, and had heard the story of how he was fished out of the ocean in a block of ice. She had never met the man before, but apparently she was meeting all sorts of celebrities today.

"Hey! Are you nuts?" Rogers yelled at him, but Tony paid him no mind.

"You really have got a lid on it, haven't you?" he continued on. "What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"

At this point, Tess was curious as to what the three seemed to be arguing about. Making her way around the table she was standing by, she began to quietly make her way over to where Bruce was standing, walking quietly past the windows and over to the side of the table he was at, standing next to him. Her sudden appearance surprised the soldier, her being so quiet that he didn't even realize she was in the room. Of course, being the old fashioned gentleman he was, he had to apologize.

"Ma'am," he addressed Tess politely. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize-"

_"No, no, no, no,"_ Tony suddenly said, cutting the soldier off. "You can't talk to her, you're not in our secret club." Upon hearing his, Tess shook her head and face palmed, looking up and giving Steve an apologetic look. Bruce however, though he didn't show it, was a little thankful to the man. He knew it was stupid, but he didn't exactly like the handsome soldier talking to her.

Steve's anger seemed to revive then.

"Is everything a joke to you?" he continued angrily, looking as if steam was about to come out of him.

"Funny things are."

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny." Then the man turned in Bruce's direction, an apology on his face. "No offense, doctor."

"No, it's alright," he answered quietly, internally a bit horrified that they were speaking about this and Tess was right there. She knew he was capable of something, just not something so horrible. He figured that this was a sign, something telling him that now was the time to tell her, or at least when Steve left. "I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." Tess gave him a confused look, her eyes asking him why he was speaking this way about himself. He gave her a look saying he would explain later.

"You're tiptoeing, big man," Tony said then, observing that he was talking about it in front of Tess, so he continued. "You need to strut."

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark," Steve retorted.

"You think I'm not?" Tony challenged the soldier. "Why did Fury call us, and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables." Tony then picked up his bag if blueberries, and began to eat them as he walked around.

Rogers gave the man a questioning look. "You think Fury's hiding something?"

"He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets. _Tess,"_ the agent looked up at him, watching as he began to sign and talk, _"Fury, he sits on a lies engraved throne, right?"_ Steve looked a bit startled at the man's sudden change in movements, and then even more so when Tess did the same, only then realizing why. He was a bit surprised, but kept quiet.

Tess shook her head at him, not going to get into it with the man._ Fury's my boss, Tony. His business is none of mine._

Tony pointed to Bruce then. "It's bugging him too, isn't it?"

Suddenly being called into the spotlight, the doctor became uncomfortable, not wanting to comment. "Uh...I just wanna finish my work here and..."

"Doctor?" Steve persuaded him, wanting to hear what he had to say.

He shrugged before answering. "'A warm light for all mankind,' Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."

"I heard it," Steve said, however, Tess was confused. Who was Loki?

Bruce pointed at Tony. "Well, I think that was meant for you." Looking at the man questioningly, the man of iron then offered Bruce some of this snacks, him holding the bag to the doctor. Bruce, observing the bag, tentatively took some. "Even if Barton didn't post that all over the news."

"The Stark Tower? That big ugly-" Tony gave Steve a warning glare "...building in New York?"

Bruce nodded. "It's powered by Stark Reactors, self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?"

"That's just the prototype," Tony agreed, eating his berries. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now.

"So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project?" Bruce continued, referring to the man. "I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"

Tony began to walk to the other side of the table, where the Captain was. "I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure photos."

Tess suddenly looked at Tony, wondering if she had seen that right. He was breaking into Shield's network? She was about to ask him to clarify when Steve mirrored her expression, and she knew she got it right.

"I'm sorry," the soldier responded, flabbergasted, "did you say...?"

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide." Tony held out his bag of snacks to the blonde. "Blueberry?"

Tess watched Tony for a few moments, wondering what kind of threat he was posing. As an agent, she felt she was duty bound to alert the organization of the possible infiltration. She knew of Jarvis, Stark's A.I. that was one of the most sophisticated in the world, and was very capable of doing it, despite Shield's firewalls. However, she also wondered what kind of threat this posed to her, specifically. A leak in a file had been what put her in danger before, what had gotten AIM on her trail. However, she wanted to see how this was going to play out. Plus, she didn't Tony would look into personal files. So she stayed quiet.

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?" he said angrily.

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not possible."

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."

"Following is not really my style."

"And you're all about style, aren't you?"

A dark look suddenly crossed Tony's face. "Of the people in this room, which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?"

Tess shifted uncomfortably. She would be one of those things. She was really just there. Bruce saw this and decided to guide the conservation away from Tony's line.

"Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?" the doctor said, watching as the soldier took this as a possibility for a moment. However, the man was a soldier, and he was trained to take orders.

"Just find the cube," he muttered angrily, and he marched out of the lab, the doors opening for him as he passed by.

When the man left the room, Tony rolled his eyes and walked across the room, looking at the two of them.

_"That's the guy my dad never shut up about?"_ he said and signed, exasperated. _"Wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice."_

_"The guy's not wrong about Loki," _Bruce answered him. _"He does have the jump on us."_

_"What he's got is an ACME dynamite kit. It's gonna blow up in his face, and I'm gonna be there when it does."_

Bruce chuckled. _"And I'll read all about it."_

Bruce and Tony continued to talk then, moving over towards the computer screens to keep working, leaving Tess to silently think about everything she had just heard. This Loki was a new character, and apparently he had something to do with the Tesseract's disappearance. And the way they were speaking about him, it seemed as if they had a conversation with him. So was he on the ship? But besides that, now, not only was Iron Man and Black Widow here, but also Captain America, three very capable fighting machines. Natasha was explainable, and so was Tony, but why Steve? He didn't have any experience that would help in locating an energy source like the cube. So in conclusion... she still basically had no clue what was really happening, as always. But this time... it pained her a little.

When Bruce and Tony were done talking at their computer screens, completing whatever work there they needed to do, they came back over to the table to see Tess looking at the two of them, a sad look in her eyes. They both paused immediately, wondering what was wrong.

_Who is Loki?_ Tess signed then, looking at the two with an almost saddened expression. She was once again the only one who didn't know what was going on, even with the people who she now considered her friends.

The two men of science gave her shocked expressions, Bruce's bewildered and Tony's disbelieving.

"_Loki?"_ Tony clarified._ "Demi-god drama queen? Big pointy glowy stick? Ringing any bells?"_

She shook her head sadly. _No. I don't know anything about him, because... no one ever thinks to tell me anything. _Her eyes went to the floor. _I don't know about 'Loki', I don't really know why you guys came to the Helicarrier, I didn't even know the Tesseract was stolen until couple of hours ago..._ She turned to Bruce then. _And why is everyone looking at you like you're some kind of... threat?_

Tony and Bruce shared a look, Tony giving Bruce a raised brow and then a pat on the back as Bruce continued to stare at her. It was time. He turned towards Tess.

_"I'm going to be over here..."_ he said, pointing to the opposite corner of the room, and he walked over there, giving the two some space.

Bruce stood there for a second, not really knowing how to proceed. Slowly, he glanced behind himself and saw a chair, and grabbing it, he pulled it in front of her, taking a seat. He could feel his hands starting to sweat, not knowing how to proceed.

_I'm sorry, _he started, thinking to begin with the easier parts first. _We didn't realize you didn't know about Loki. Or about the Tesseract. I thought someone would have... told you._

Tess shook her head. _Not really. Could you tell me... what the hell's going on?_

So Bruce did. He explained to her everything they knew about the Tesseract, why he was called in, as well as Tony, and the Captain, and even Thor, another character who she had yet to hear about or meet. He told her about Loki, Thor's brother who had stolen the Tesseract and was in control of the Chitauri, an army that was bent on destroying earth if they didn't find the cube, and that he was currently being held on the ship. He also mentioned about Barton's apparent brainwashing, and that his whereabouts were currently unknown. Tess was finally filled in on the situation, and she couldn't help but feel better.

But there was still something she needed to know.

_Bruce... _she began, watching him closely. _What were Tony and Steve talking about? About threatening the safety of the ship? And why does everyone seem to know about it but me?_

Bruce didn't look up at her for a moment, but when he did it was with sad eyes.

_I am a threat to the ship, Tess, _he signed, almost painfully. _They weren't exaggerating that. And I'm kind of... infamous, for it._

_Bruce, if it has something to do with what you can do-_

_Tess, it's not something I can do, it's something that happens to me. _He couldn't get the word 'Hulk' out, but he was tiptoeing around it as much as he could. _Steve got upset at Tony because this 'thing' happens when my heart rate gets too high, and he was afraid Tony was going to trigger it. _The doctor had to stop himself then, so many emotions overtaking him. He _really_ didn't want her to have to hear this. _I become something... awful, Tess, awful, and horrible, and destructive._

He didn't want to look her in the eyes. She was finally knowing why everyone kept him at a distance, and why he did the same in return. She was learning about the monster he really was. He was expecting some kind of vocal reaction, but when he didn't, he looked up. To his surprise, she was shaking her head, opposing his statement.

_It can't be awful,_ she told him without hesitation. _Or horrible. It can't._

He laughed once without humor. _Yeah, and why's that?_

_Because whatever you 'become' is still you... and you could never be awful._

His eyes became wide and full of surprise, and they only grew more when she reached out and cupped his cheek with her hand, her fingers tracing the line of his hair. Her face held comfort and compassion, no judgement, or scrutiny, or even fear like he felt he deserved. But it didn't stop him from leaning into her touch, her lightly caressing his skin with her thumb.

"I've hurt people, Tess," he barely whispered, the words like acid on his tongue. She shook her head.

_"Not on purpose," _she said to him._ "I can see that."_

Taking her other hand, she began to thread her fingers through his curly black hair in a caring touch, sending shivers down his spine. She continued this for a few moments, before Bruce grabbed her hand on his cheek, looking up at her with a pained expression.

"Tess, if something happens, and I _hurt_ you-"

_"Stop."_ She gathered both her hands back to continue. _Bruce, you won't hurt me, ok? I can protect myself._

Bruce gave her a wary expression. "Tess, even if you can, you have to promise me that if something starts happening, you will get away from me. Ok?"

_Bruce, I can-_

"Tess," Bruce cut her off, grabbing her hands and looking her in the eyes, his pleading with hers. "Please. If I hurt you, I will _never_ forgive myself. Please,just_ promise me."_

Looking into his stricken face for a few moments, Tess slowly nodded, to his immediate relief. Seeing this on his face, she quickly stood up made the few steps to his seat, awkwardly wrapping her arms around the man that was so concerned for her safety. This surprised the doctor; he hadn't been hugged in a long time. But he quickly reached his arms up around her waist, and gathering all his bravery, pulled her closer to him, and to his relief, she didn't pull away. Instead, she buried her face in the crook of his neck, and the two stayed like this for a while.


	7. Chapter 7

_Please review and tell what you think! Also, I'd like to address some messages that I received concerning Tess being able to 'hear' sometimes, and sometimes not. I am going to start right off the bat and say that I am not deaf, however, I'm not making this up as I go along. I have deaf family, so none of this is new to me. Some people who are deaf can hear a little, some not at all, it just depends on the person. In my story, Tess is like many deaf where if you are speaking to them while facing them, they can hear what you are saying to an extent, but rely on a lot of lip reading. However, if you turn away or aren't facing them, it is difficult for them to know what you are saying. That is why sometimes Tess can 'hear' and tell tones of voices and sometimes she can't. Just thought I'd mention it in case anyone else was wondering. Thanks!_

* * *

_"So, Tessie, tell me about yourself,"_ Tony said to her, pulling up a seat in front of Tess and sitting on it backwards, resting his arms on the back of the chair._ "Where're you from? I should really know more about the people I'm offering rooms to."_

Tess rolled her eyes at the man, smirking a little. Though she wasn't really putting much thought into what he was saying, that was the second time he mentioned rooms at the Towers.

_You're asking me my life story?_ she asked with a laugh. Her and Bruce were currently sitting on a table in front of the man, looking down at him slightly. After Bruce had told her of his destructive potential, him and Tess had taken a seat on the table behind them, not really saying much of anything. Not because they were uncomfortable, just because there wasn't much else to say. Tony, watching them across the room for a few moments, had then decided to break the silence of the room, taking his seat in front of the two.

He bobbed his head back and forth for a moment before nodding with a look of 'Guess so' on his face.

_"Yeah, pretty much."_

Tess turned towards Bruce next to her then, who had a smile on his face.

_"I'd like to know,"_ he told her honestly, his eyes bright. _"I don't really know anything about your life before Shield."_

Shrugging, the woman compiled. She paused for a moment, trying to think of how to start.

_Well, when I was younger I wasn't that interesting, really,_ she began._ I grew up in Washington D.C. with my mom, and after high school I got accepted to Cornell University and went there for college._

Tony looked at her approvingly, giving her a nod of satisfaction_. The girl has some brains in her,_ he thought to himself. Not that he didn't know that before; it was just now confirmed.

_"Wow, Cornell?"_ Bruce commented, also impressed._ "That's a hard school to get into. What'd you go for?"_

_Education,_ she answered him._ I wanted to teach, and I did for a few years after I got my Master's. I really found purpose with the underprivileged deaf kids I taught. But then I started attracting some unwanted attention, and I didn't know what to do. My mom was gone, so I was all alone and on the run. Luckily Shield found me and took me in for protection. And then I became an agent, and here I am before you. _

_"Unwanted attention?"_ Tony stopped her._ "What, were you being chased down by lonely Cornell science majors you turned down in the past?"_ Bruce looked up to glare at Tony, and the man shot him back a triumphant smirk.

Tess laughed._ I wish. They were a little more... hostile, than that,_ she answered vaguely, not really wanting to get into the whole AIM event. She wanted to put that behind her.

Tony gave her a raised brow, vowing to himself to find out what that 'unwanted attention' was later. But at the moment, he had something else in mind.

_"Well, what if I told you I can promise exceptional protection from any 'unwanted attention,' whether it be horny college students or hostile agencies, or both, because I can see that happening, at Stark Towers?"_ The man stopped then, hoping to let his words sink in.

It was Tess's turn to raise her brow, giving the man a questioning look.

_What do you mean?_ she asked him, wondering if she wasn't understanding him correctly.

_"Exactly what I said. And that goes for you too, Brucey,"_ he said to the doctor, bringing him into the conversation.

_"Wait..."_ Bruce answered then, holding his hand up towards the man in front of them._ "Are you offering us... places to stay?"_

_"Well, I need something to take up some space over there,"_ Tony replied nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders as if it wasn't a big deal. _"Pepper and I'll probably head back to Malibu when this is all over, so we won't be there. And every time I think of all those unoccupied guest rooms I shed a tear from wasted property additions."_

Bruce and Tess looked at each other, sharing surprised yet happy smiles. They then turned back to the billionaire.

_"Why?"_

_"Someone has to watch the place for me, and who better than my favorite doctor and favorite Shield employee?"_ he replied with his hand over his heart, his voice sickly sweet. The two in front of him both rolled their eyes, but smiled. _"Just think about it. You'd have access to everything in the Towers; R&D levels, library, gym, workroom, maids, butlers, full stocked wine cabinet... There's more than penalty of room for two people, you'll have private elevators, and you could each get your own master suites. Hell, you could each have your own floor if you wanted. In the lowers levels there'll be some work going on, but you wouldn't be bothered by it at all, and no one'll give you any trouble if they know I'm letting you live there."_

As she continued to listen to Tony, Tess wouldn't deny it; the offer was very tempting. To get off the Helicarrier and not be surrounded by Shield agents all the time made her heart start pumping. A room in the city meant a place to call her own securely on the ground, something she hadn't had in a very long time. She had been on the run for a time before being taken in by the secret agency, and it had been awhile since she had a bed of her own. But she couldn't just leave. She owed Shield too much.

Tess gave the billionaire a sad smile, hit by the realization that she would probably need to deny his generous offer. _As wonderful as that sounds, Tony, I don't think I'll be able to just leave. You can't exactly steal me away from Shield._

_"I could try,"_ he responded, giving her a Tony Stark confident smirk._ "Of course, only if you'd want me to. If so, I could mention about how you could watch over the Towers, how you would definitely keep your status as an agent and still work for Shield, and about how useful you would be if a certain doctor were to be staying there too."_

Laughing, Tess smiled at the man, glancing at Bruce for a moment. _I don't think Fury would go for it._

_"But..."_

The agent bit her lip for a moment. _But if he would... I would be happy to live at the Towers._

Tony smiled widely, a look of mirth in his eyes._ "Now that's the spirit, Tessie! Just leave Fury to me. I can be very convincing."_ He then turned to the scientist, giving him a look of achievement, almost. _"Bruce, what about you? Would you mind being a resident of my humble abode?"_

Bruce looked stunned for a moment, trying to think of how to answer. He hadn't had a home in a long time, years. He had places to stay, hideouts, rooms for the night... but never a home, something with a sense of permanency. Sure it was in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world, one that he wasn't exactly welcome in, but he most likely wouldn't be bothered if he stayed in the labs. And the labs... he knew Tony would only supply them with the best equipment, resources, supplies... everything he'd ever need or could imagine would be in there, and he could continue with his work in gamma radiation without interruption. And to make matters better, if Tess was there with him... The offer was more than tempting, he had to admit.

He glanced over at the woman next to him, who, with a smirk, was waiting to hear his answer. Giving her a lopsided, almost goofy grin, he turned back to Stark.

_"I will definitely consider it, Tony,"_ the man replied, and the billionaire smile triumphantly.

_"Wonderful! I'll see what I can do, which, let's face it, is a lot."_ Tony quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket then, hitting a few numbers before placing it to his ear and waiting for a moment before talking into it, walking away from the two with a wink. Tess wondered for a moment how his phone worked while they were in the Helicarrier and up in the air, but she didn't really question it. This was Tony Stark she was talking about. He probably had his own personal satellite in orbit for this very reason.

As he walked away, Bruce and Tess looked at each other, both sharing a look of 'What just happened?' However, neither of them were upset or uncomfortable with the thought of them moving into the Towers together. In fact, they were both rather... excited.

_Do you really think you're going to do this?_ the woman asked the man next to her. He smiled and shrugged a little.

_I think that when Tony wants something, nothing can stop him,_ he signed with a chuckle. Tess did the same and nodded, knowing it was the truth.

_I think..._ She paused, not knowing how to continue for a moment. She then smiled._ I think that if we do move into the Towers... That would be great._ She laughed at herself a bit, knowing that her last sentence was a bit lame. Bruce, however, didn't think so, and smiled at her.

_Me too,_ he told her softly, and then he smirked at her._ And I promise to do all I can to keep the Cornell boys away._

Tess let out a loud, unrestrained laugh then, his statement making her roll her eyes at him.

_Well, I promise to help in the lab, but I'm warning you now there's a reason I was an English teacher,_ she replied. Bruce smiled widely at her statement.

_I'll keep that in mind,_ he told her, and the two chuckled a little more before turning their heads away from each other, smiles still on their faces.

Then, in a move that made her cheeks dust a light red, Tess slowly reached over and placed her hand on the doctor's next to her, the small gesture making the man's heart do a pole vault in his chest. He was stunned for a moment before he realized he should react, and he slowly brought his thumb up from under her palm and began to gently caress the back of her hand with it, not looking directly at her. However, he could see her smile lightly in the corner of his eye and he smiled himself a little. Maybe, just maybe, he did have a chance.

* * *

About an hour after Tony offered them homes at the Towers, he and Bruce were once again going over computers screens in front of them, the tracing of the location of the Tesseract becoming more complete with every passing hour. The two men were in the corner of the lab talking with one another, and Tess was sitting on the other side of the room, once again looking out the window and down on the bridge in front of her, just watching. She had a lot on her mind in the current moment; the Tesseract, Loki, her now possible move to Stark Towers, Bruce... It was a lot all at once, and she would be lying if she said it wasn't getting to her a bit.

She looked over at the two men fiddling with their touch screens, and couldn't help but smile when she saw them, smiling and talking with each other as if they had known each other for longer than a day. She still couldn't believe that in the last day she had become friends with the man of iron, was potentially going to move into his multistory complex, and started to fall, yes fall, for the quiet scientist next to him. Tess didn't understand how, being that it was only a day that they had known each other, but she supposed it was kind of understandable; in the twelve or so hours they had known of each other's existence, they had spent about eleven of them together. The thought of them getting to know each other better at the Towers excited her; she really liked the good doctor, and he was truly good person with a good heart, despite what he thought of himself.

Suddenly, an unknown force hit Tess hard, causing her to physically react and jerk forward from the blow. She turned her head abruptly, her eyes darting around the room to confront whatever or whoever had attacked her. However, to her great surprise, the only people in the room were her and the two men of science in the other corner of the room, who were continuing to carry out their business. Confusion masking her face, she continued to search the room as another strike hit her from her right, making her face that direction. She quickly realized then that nothing tangible was attacking her; it was a physical energy, and it was reacting strongly towards her.

Tess looked in the direction that the force was coming from, and to her confusion, and almost fear, she saw nothing. But then her eyes narrowed in and she noticed something; the scepter, still in its place on the table in front of her, was glowing.

Something overtook Tess then, the moment her eyes locked in on the glowing energy on the top of the staff. She suddenly became unable to control herself, her movements not her own. Her feet began to move towards the weapon without her really realizing what she was doing, and absentmindedly, she began to feel her senses come alive. Suddenly, she could feel, see, smell, taste, the atmosphere around her. She began to see the waves that the scepter was given off,, lines and ripples seeming to dance off of it as she slowly made her way closer to it, her eyes and thoughts being lost in the blue of the staff. She seemed to be hypnotized for all of these details were lost on her, and most importantly, she didn't seem to realize that she had just heard Bruce laughing behind her.

When Tess made it to the table, she stood in front of the scepter and placed her hand over the orb that crowned it, not touching it, but hovering above it. Her skin began to tingle, and a chill went down her spine as she felt the energy pulse beneath her hand. Closing her eyes for a moment, she inhaled deeply, as if she was drinking in the waves that caressed the air around her. Then, when her eyes opened and the energy ran through her, she felt as she was given a shot of adrenaline, and she felt awake and energized like she never had before. Tess found the feeling exquisite, wanting more of it coursing through her. However, even through her entranced state, she could tell something was off, that there was something, alive, about this force, something sinister...

A silhouette began to form in front of Tess then, a large dark cloud that seemed to shape itself into something else looming over her. A man then appeared before her eyes from this cloud, and stood there as if he was really in the room with her and the two geniuses, right in front of and gazing down at her. Though he was transparent and hazy, his features were still visible, and so were the colors he adorned. He was very large in height, had long black hair that stood out in spikes at the end, and a pale complexion. He was wearing garb that Tess had never seen before, but it seemed to be armor, in the colors of green, black, and gold.

He seemed to be becoming clearer with each passing moment, as if someone was tuning a radio to the right station. It wasn't long before the figure was sharp and distinct in front of her, looking down at her with a smile. He cocked his head to the side as if examining her, his smile welcoming and charismatic. But despite this, Tess knew something wasn't right about this man, despite the fact that he had just appeared in the room. However, she couldn't look away from him, and his godly appearance.

"Hello," the man said to her gently then, and this time she was able to register that she could hear him, hear him, crystal clear, as if he was a thought in her head. She was able to feel the shock appear on her face, but couldn't do anything else or make any other movement, causing her to become slightly panicky. Not that she'd be able to show it, however. The man's eyes narrowed then slightly, as if he had stumbled across something curious. However, even through his smile, she could see a dark look residing in his eyes. "Now, who would you be..."

Suddenly, Tess's vision began to cloud. The corners of her eyes began filling in with a shade of blue that she found terrifying yet beautiful, the same shade that decorated the scepter. Her heart began to pound furiously as the man's smile continued to grow and the blue overtook her eyes. However, she couldn't move, couldn't cry out for help. She could only stand there as the color overwhelmed her, slowly making its way into her mind as her thoughts became not like her own. Her mind felt as though it was being caressed, but not pleasantly; it felt as though someone was picking through her thoughts, and she looked into the man's eyes once more, demanding an answer.

"Relax," the man's soothing voice told her. "Do not fight what will set you free. You have potential for great things, my dear. I can see what you are capable of, and I intend help you unleash it."

His words made Tess feel weak at the knees from fear. She didn't want to unleash anything; she wasn't buying what he was selling, but she began to feel as though she had no choice. In fact, in the far but approaching corners of her mind, she felt herself agreeing with him. It felt as though she was drowning. She closed her eyes then, feeling her mind about to give into something dark and horrible...

Suddenly, someone grabbed her hand over the scepter, stopping her connection to the blue energy and the forces with it, and all at once, she felt the siege of her mind come to a halt. The man in front of her frowned, the dark look she saw in his eyes passing over his face, before he quickly disappeared, much of the invading energy of the room leaving with him. Tess mentally breathed a sigh of relief, profusely thanking whoever her saviour was, but she couldn't get the words out; she couldn't get anything out, in fact. She had not control of her body, and she felt like she had been deshelled.

Tess was then being moved somewhere away from the glowing weapon, but because she still wasn't responsive, she was practically being dragged and carried, feeling two sets of arms moving her to their desired location. She felt herself being placed in a chair after a moment, but didn't react to it, and kept staring out blankly in the the room in front of her.

Two hands made their way to her face then, and Tess's face met with Bruce's, his expression one of great concern and confusion. Upon seeing her lifeless features, he started to lightly slap her cheek, trying to get her out of her unresponsive state, only to be responded to with silence and a passive gaze. She was as white as a sheet, and the doctor felt a panic settle in his chest, not having a clue as to what just happened.

_"Tess!"_ she saw him yelling at her, but she couldn't hear him, not even a little bit as she normally could._ "Tess!" _

Tony was there too, presumably the other set of arms that had taken her to the chair. He was crouching behind Bruce, clapping his hands and shouting her name as well, trying to get her to react as she sat there like an oversized ragdoll. But still, she would not respond to them. The two men looked at each other, wide eyed. What were they supposed to do?

Inside her head, Tess had noticed that the blue had began to slowly drain from her vision since the unknown man's departure. She still couldn't move really, but she was beginning to feel again, like she was slowly making her way back into her body. And then, after a few moments, Tess blinked. And then she blinked again, and again.

After a few short moments, her head didn't feel as clouded anymore, and she was able to think more clearly. The shades of blue almost entirely vacated from her mind, and in their place left a star-inducing headache. Her vision seemed to come into focus after a moment, and then slowly she looked towards Bruce, their eyes meeting. Her head still in his hands, she looked at him as if she was surprised to see him there.

_"Bruce?"_ she said to him weakly, all the energy drained out of her, sparks pulsing in her vision. He could barely hear her, and yet he knew what she said.

"Yeah, Tess, it's me," he answered her urgently, making her look him in the face so that if she couldn't hear him she could read his lips. "Tess, can you understand me? Nod if you can."

To his intimate relief, she slowly nodded, and then paused when her headache grew worse. Then, gently and slowly, as if very labored, she took her hands and placed them on his on the sides of her face. She interlocked their fingers from the backs of his hands and slowly took them down off her head, only what she didn't realize was that he was the only thing keeping her upright. When she removed his hands she lost her balance and started to fall forward, too weak to catch herself.

Bruce quickly reacted, reaching up to grab the woman in front of him as she fell. The doctor wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her firmly so that he could bring her to the ground slowly without her falling in a pile on the floor. He felt her limply bring her arms around his neck, a very gentle hold keeping them there as he slowly backed up so that he was kneeling but sitting back, and her legs were touching the floor. However, Bruce didn't let go of her, and she didn't of him.

Their bodies were closely pressing against one another, the doctor's broader shoulders overtaking the frame of the woman's smaller body. Her face was buried into the crook of his neck, Tess finding comfort there, with her arms still around his neck, looking as if she was hiding from something. His scent and his proximity calmed her splitting headache, and she felt... safe, as if the energy and the unknown man could no longer harm her while she was with him. Even though her hazy thoughts she thought this was strange; Tess was hardly the type to rely on another person for safety. And yet she found this in the arms of the doctor who she never even saw raise his voice.

Bruce rested his head on the top of her's as he felt his heart rate begin to go down, and he breathed a sigh of relief that she was responsive. It had worried him that her state had caused him to go into the danger zone with his heart rate, and for a moment or two, he honestly didn't know if he would be able to control himself. But she had been the only thing that dominated his mind in the last few minutes, and even the threat of an appearance by the other guy didn't keep him away. The thought terrified him, but so the thought of her in danger, as she obviously was in just moments ago. When Bruce had happened to look over in her direction earlier, and saw her standing by the scepter with her hand over it, staring into the space in front of her with a terrified expression, he could have sworn he felt his heart stop. His fear had only increased when he noticed that her eyes were turning an icy blue.

But now that she was in his arms, safe for the time being, he buried his nose in her hair and held her even closer, and she responded by tightening her weak grip. He shared a glance with Tony, who was kneeling in front of them, and the two exchanged a look of understanding. Tony then got up and walked out the sliding doors; he was going to get a few things for her.

Bruce stayed in his location on the floor, and continued to hold Tess then. He didn't want to let her go.


	8. Chapter 8

_Please review and tell me what you think!_

* * *

By the time Tony had arrived back in the lab, carrying a small blanket, a cold bottle of water, and a bottle of aspirin, Bruce had managed to get Tess to sit back in the chair she had fallen out of, her finally regaining the strength to sit up on her own. When he entered the room he saw the woman hunched over in the seat, her elbows on her knees as her face rested in her hands. Bruce was kneeling to her side, his hand gently tracing circles on her back to try and offer some kind of comfort, a sad yet controlled look on his face. The billionaire was glad then that he had thought to bring the pain pills; she looked like she was hurting. The doctor looked up at the man as he came in, and when he saw the supplies he brought he tapped Tess on the shoulder, making her look up at him.

_Tony brought something for you,_ he told her gently, and then gestured for her to look in his direction. When she lifted her head to face him, Tony held up the three items in his hands and shrugged.

"They were all out of Whiskey," he joked lightly, walking over to the two and kneeling in front of the woman in the chair. She smiled lightly, taking the water bottle and aspirin when he handed it to her, giving him a small _Thank you._ As she retrieved a few pills from the bottle she was given and washed them down with a swig of the water, Tony unraveled the blanket under his arm and tossed it over her shoulders, tucking it around her arms slightly. When she closed both the bottles back up, she placed the cold water bottle to the side of her head with a sigh and looked up to see the two men watching her, questioning expressions on their faces.

_"Tess, what happened back there?"_ Bruce asked her gently, not knowing how to really begin. But they needed answers, and they needed to know what was going on. _"You really had us scared there for awhile."_

_"Seriously kid, you looked possessed,"_ Tony commented then, his face completely serious, unlike his normal jesting expressions.

She looked up at them with sad eyes. Tess really didn't know what had happened either, but she could at least time them her end of the story. Setting down the water bottle on the floor next to her seat, she began.

_I really don't know,_ she told them tiredly, a tint of frustration in her expression._ I was sitting in the corner when something started hitting me from behind, but when I turned around nothing was there. Then I looked over at the scepter and..._ She paused for a moment, her gaze turning towards the weapon on the table, its glow still present but nothing like what it was earlier._ It was like it was controlling me. I started walking towards it without knowing what I was doing, and suddenly I was... It felt like I was absorbing the energy and couldn't stop. I felt my mind changing and my vision was going blue..._

Tony glanced over at Bruce then, a look of worry and caution on his face, his brow raised. _"That sounds like what happened to Barton."_ He paused for a moment, not wanting to speak a thought going through his head._ "We probably got there just in time."_

Bruce gave him a grim gaze, and he then returned to Tess, his eyes softening slightly._ "Did anything else happen? You looked... scared..."_

Tess nodded then, an action she regretted a bit as her head throbbed a bit more. _Yes. Out of nowhere this man just appeared in front of me, and he looked as real as the two of you do now. I… I think he was the one controlling whatever was happening to me..._

Bruce seemed to pale slightly then, and he quickly turned to Tony, who's eyes were wide with shock and realization. They both had a clue who this man was, but sincerely hoped that they were wrong.

_"Tess, what did he look like?"_ Tony demanded then, turning back to her.

_Very… strange. He had long, black hair, was really tall, as white as a ghost... And then he was wearing this really strange clothing that didn't look... earthly._

Tess watched as Bruce's eyes grew wide, his fists starting to clench slowly at his sides. His breathing started to grow a bit heavier then, he quickly got to his feet and started to slowly pace the lab a bit in front of them, his hand rubbing the bridge of his nose. Tony watched him carefully.

"Hey, Bruce," the billionaire called to him then, looking over at the man in the middle of the lab. Tony would joke all he wanted about the Hulk when there wasn't a threat of him actually coming. However, he was the first to know that the other guy wasn't something to mess around with when there was a genuine possibility of him paying them a visit. "Bruce, look at me. How are we?"

His eyes still closed and not looking in their direction as he continued to rub his forehead, he raised his hand towards the two. "I'm fine, just... give me a minute."

A frown etching itself in his face, Tony nodded slightly and then turned back to face Tess, whose eyes were watching Bruce worriedly. Seeing Tony look over at her, she turned back to him with a questioning look on her face._ What's wrong? Is he okay?_

_"He'll be fine,"_ Tony reassured her, casting one last glance at the doctor to be sure._ "But that man you saw... that was Loki."_

Tess's eyes grew wide, his words in giving a name to the man, and her realizing just how serious what had happened to her was.

_Loki? Is that why Bruce is upset?_

_"Yeah, he's... not really happy he made his way up here."_ Tony knew the real reason Bruce was getting so worked up, but he didn't go on. He would feel the same way if Loki had gotten within a_ mile_ of Pepper, and here he was almost possessing Tess in his lab. Bruce had every right to be upset.

_Oh..._ Tess paused, looking over at the scientist once again, a sad look in her eyes. She watched him as he calmed himself down, seeming to go through a practiced retinue of pacing, breathing, and massaging his temples, before after a few moments he finally stopped and looked to the floor, placing his hands on his hips as he did so. He then met her eyes with an exhausted smile that didn't hold much reassurance.

Bruce slowly started to walk over to the two, his arms swinging at his sides, looking a little embarrassed as he did, not really wanting to look at either of them. Tess, however, had other things in mind. So when he stood in front of her, she reached out her hand to the man and took his own, giving him a reassuring squeeze, telling him in one action that she was there and didn't care about what just happened, even if she didn't completely understand it. He looked down at her then, their hands still interlocked, and he gave her a genuine small smile, knowing her reassurance was true, and that it truly made him feel better. After this gaze their hands separated as Tony spoke up.

_"You ok, Brucey?"_ he asked the scientist, and he nodded in reply.

_"Yeah, umm, much better now,"_ he said with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. He took a seat in front of them, sitting on a desk next to one of the touch screens. He turned to the agent._ "Tess, did he say anything to you? What was he doing before we pulled you out of it?"_

Tess's eyes went to the floor, averting her gaze from the men in front of her. _"You have potential for great things, my dear. I can see what you are capable of, and I intend help you unleash it."_ Loki's words echoed in her mind, sending a chill down her spine. She didn't show it, but that scared her. The god was right; she was capable of great things, things she knew that if were in the wrong hands would cause great destruction, and she wasn't about to let that happen. If they wouldn't have realized what was happening to her sooner, who knows what would have happened, what would be occurring right now as they spoke. The thought was terrifying.

She looked back at the two of them with sad but stern eyes._ Loki said he wants to help me unleash my 'potential,' and I don't think we'd agree on how he'd do that._

_"'Potential?'"_ Tony asked then, giving her a confused look._ "What do you mean 'potential?'"_ He knew that if Pepper was here she would chide him for being rude, but to him it was an honest question. 'Potential' could be so many things to so many different people, and he doubted that Loki, the god of mischief, would set his standards low. It started to turn the gears in his brain. _"Any agent on this ship could have 'potential,' but Loki wouldn't just pick any agent based on that."_ He eyes narrowed a bit then, giving her an analyzing look.

Tess seemed to deflate slightly under this expression. Now that his mind was set to figuring out this meaning, she knew it wouldn't take very long before he realized she wasn't like any of the other agents. After a moment, her thoughts were confirmed when he continued._ "What can you do? Obviously there's a reason he's taken an interest in you. Why is it?"_ Then his eyes widened, another piece of the puzzle coming together for him, and Tess's eyes grew wide._ "Is that why those 'agencies' started coming after you, too?"_ She bit her lip and turned away from him, only igniting his fire. "I'll take that as a yes. I guess you're a pretty hot commodity then for Shield to take you in-"

"Tony!" Bruce cut the man off, a force behind his voice something that didn't come out of him often. Tess was looking to the ground now, her eyes slightly welling up with moisture but her face hard. The scientist knew Tony's words were upsetting her, even if she wasn't showing it outright. He was opening a lot wounds for her now and it sparked something in Bruce, the need to make her pain stop. The man of iron shut his mouth immediately, looking over at the doctor with a confused but argumentative expression.

"Tell me I'm wrong, Bruce," he said to the man. "Loki wouldn't just lock onto one agent unless there was something unordinary about them. You have to know something, you've been with her longer."

"You're right, Tony, I do," Bruce almost spat at him, surprising the billionaire. "And you're right, she is different! But she hasn't told me how, and obviously there's a reason why! And you can't seem to realize that you're making her upset by bringing it up!"

Tony stopped then, feeling as though he had been slapped. He looked down at the woman whose head was turned to the side of the room, her eyes not meeting his. He noticed the slight evidence of tears and her hard expression residing on her features where her brilliant smile usually stayed, and at that moment, the man of iron suddenly felt something he didn't very often; remorse. Stark was so used to running off his mouth unapologetically that he forgot who he was speaking to, and about. Normally those he was sassing off or basically telling where to stick something were officials or people high in power who had either pissed him off or deserved it. However, he had failed to realized that Tess was neither of those things, and was very undeserving of the attitude he was giving her. She had been nothing but friendly and helpful to him since he arrived, and this was how he was treating her.

Sighing a little, Tony scratched the back of his neck before waving slightly, trying to get her attention. When she turned back towards him, her face calculating and cautious, as if he were a threat of some sort, him felt another pang of regret go through him, and he gave her an apologetic expression.

_"I'm sorry, Tess,"_ he told her genuinely._ "I didn't mean to upset you. I got ahead of myself, and when that happens I become unfiltered and rude and stupid. And for that I'm sorry."_ He stopped and took a breath for a moment. "I really mean it, Tess, I'm sorry."

Tess looked up at him for a moment, really looking into his eyes before giving him a small smirk. He really did look remorseful, and she knew that that meant a lot in itself. She knew how he acted, and he only made a mistake. She quickly wiped at her eyes to get rid of the tears that never fell and she nodded at him.

_It's okay, Tony, I promise,_ she told, reassuring him with a larger smile. Smiling slightly himself, the genius bent over and embraced the girl tightly, the last of the short lived tension between them dissipating as Bruce looked on with a grin. When the two separated, Tess sighed, and looked up at the two.

_You are right though,_ the woman agreed._ I'm not like all the other agents. I'm... special, I guess._ She glanced up at Bruce for a moment before continuing, him giving her a reassuring nod._ Bruce knows this, but not many others do, Tony. I'm an X-gene carrier, so my abilities are a bit... uncommon._ She paused for a moment after that. She figured it was now or never, and they needed to know about what she could do before something like this happened again. Secrecy be damned, they needed to know why it affected her so greatly. She drew a deep breath.

_I can control energy,_ she told them, but looked at Bruce as she did. This had been what she was keeping from him since they met, and if it was the time to get it out, she wanted it to be to him mainly. He hung on her every word, watching her intently as she continued._ I can feel, read, and manipulate energy, which is why I've been sensitive to the scepter's power since it got here, and why it was able to... grab a hold of me so easy. I'm not going to go into it greatly, but my abilities are... special, even for an X-gene carrier with my type of skills._

_"Why's that?"_ Tony questioned then, taking more precaution than he did before; he wouldn't push her now. But hearing about her hidden abilities were consuming him at the moment, and he wanted to drink in all that she would tell them.

_Mine cover a diverse range of capabilities,_ she answered._ Most people with my kind of abilities just stay in a general area of their energy type, but mine are some kind of abnormality. It's odd, but not unheard of. Only... I just have a particular specialty._

The two men in front of her exchanged a glance.

"What is it?" Bruce asked her softly then. She gave him a tired looking smile; it was too late to go back now.

Tess held out her hand to the two men and opened it, watching as the two men jumped slightly when a large flame appeared in the palm of her hand. The fire danced in her palm as she twisted and turned her wrist in a circular motion, the sound of the flame moving in the air meeting the men's ears. She smiled lazily as she watched the flame lick across her fingers, and then returned her hand in front of them with her palm upraised, looking at them both expectantly.

After the initial shock of seeing the woman's hand wore off, the scientists eyes grew wide with amazement, and they both went to their knees to get a closer look. Bruce quickly returned his glasses to his face, never taking his eyes away from her hand. Her palm and fingers weren't changing color, and there seemed to be no irritation of the skin; the only indication that the fire was really there was the flame itself. He placed his hand near the flame and withdrew it almost immediately; he felt heat. It was real fire.

Bruce looked at her in awe, meeting her eyes.

"Does it hurt?" he asked her. She shook her head no, touching the inside of her palm where the flame was forming with her fingertips in response. One by one her fingers went through the flames and touched the skin of her hand, and she didn't even flinch. She then shrugged slightly at him; this was nothing new to her.

"She must be exciting the atoms in the air," Tony observed as he watched her hand intently, speaking to Bruce and himself. "Fits an energy manipulation profile, and if she was generating the fire from her body there would probably be more indication on the skin. She could probably control the heat, too." He looked up at her then, a broad smile on his smile. "That's a really cool trick, kid."

Tess chuckled a little at the man.

_"There's a reason they call me Blaze,"_ she said to them then, as she let her hand die down and return to her side. Tony gave her a curious grin.

"Blaze?"

She nodded._ Blaze is to me what Iron Man is to you, Tony, only I've never seen any action to use it with. Barton decided a long time ago that I should have a code name, and he started calling me Blaze whenever I trained with him. I guess it kind of stuck because it's on my file and everything. _

_"Tess, that's incredible,"_ Bruce told her then, his eyes meeting hers._ "I've never seen anything like it. Is there anything else the energy manipulation allows you to do?"_

The agent nodded to him._ Yes. I can create force fields, use ergokinetic combat, and morph my fire to resemble whips. That last one's kind of new though, actually._ She chuckled once, but mostly to herself. _There could be other things I can do, but I just haven't found them yet._

"Ergokietic combat?" Tony asked then, raising a brow at her. _"You mean you can throw power punches?"_

Tess thought about this for a moment. She never really considered them that, but she guessed that was a simpler way of looking at it. She then nodded, shrugging a bit. _Yeah, basically, I guess._

Tony chuckled once, finding humor in the whole situation. This woman was a force to be reckoned with, and yet she was so kind and quiet. _Always watch out for the quiet ones..._ _"Anything else you'd like to share with us, Tessie?"_

Tess laughed at the way in which he spoke, knowing he meant it as a lighthearted jest. However, she suddenly remembered that there _was_ something she needed to share with them, but it was nothing to laugh at. Her smile faded then, and the reason she told them of her abilities in the first place returned to her. She gave them a serious look, making both of their expressions turn suddenly solemn.

_Bruce, Tony,_ she began, _if that were to happen again, me being… overtaken, and you can't get to me in time, you need to stop me. If he were to get control of me, which he came very close to doing, I could feel it, do whatever it takes. Cage me, knock me out, put a _bullet_ in me, I don't care, because if there's anyone who knows what I am capable of, it's me. And if I hurt or_ kill_ anyone- S_he paused for a moment, biting her lip as she felt her angry emotions run through her._ I will _never_ forgive myself. _

Bruce and Tony's faces both seemed to mirror one another's, a serious look of concern and great sadness on them after hearing what she was basically begging them to do if she would become a threat. She was asking them to end her. The only different in their expressions was that Tony seemed to be having a great debate in this mind, thinking of a way to counter her instructions. Bruce on the other hand, couldn't shake the wide-eyed pained look from his face, his mouth locked in a deep frown.

He didn't want to imagine the possibility of Tess needing to be stopped by such extreme force, but if there was anyone who knew what that might entail, it was him. Of course, it didn't really matter was what thrown at him; the other guy was basically indestructible. However, even with all of her abilities, Tess didn't seem to have that same trait. Most likely, if she was hit with something like a bullet or blast, it would take her down. He felt a pain shoot through him at the thought, and he had to remind himself to calm down; nothing was happening right now. And he promised himself that he wouldn't let that happen, wouldn't let it come to that.

He was about to comment when suddenly, the sliding doors to the lab were opened, and in marched Director Fury, not looking particularly pleased. His vision seemed to analyze the three people in the room, seeing them sit behind computer screens but not looking to be working, and noting that one of the three seemed very out of place. However, the agent he was referring to was the least of his problems at the moment. Instead, he turned to the man who had not failed to be a pain in his ass since his file landed on his desk many years ago.

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" he boomed angrily to Tony, giving him a glare so intense it could probably make buildings shake and normal men lose the ability to speak. However, Tony Stark was not a normal man.

"Uh...kind of been wondering the same thing about you," he responded snarkily, not missing a beat despite the conversation that had taken place moments before.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract," Fury growled at him. And he then turned to the woman in the room, who had been watching the Director carefully. Fury's hands left his sides then and moved in front of him. _"And what are you doing here, Agent Lane?"_ he began to sign and speak, facing the woman directly. _"I don't remember these men needing your assistance, and you should not be in here right now."_

Tess kept her cool but was at a loss at how to respond. It was true; she really shouldn't have been there, but it wasn't as if she was being a nuisance. Well, besides almost becoming possessed. She walked over and stood off to the side slightly so that she had a view of all of the persons in the room and able to see them speaking, taking her place in front of the table where the scepter was located. She was about to answer the large man when to her surprise and to the Director's himself, it was one of the scientists in the room that responded to him.

"We are," Bruce replied, thankful for the immediate change in topic. He would definitely be having a conversation with Tess later, but it could wait for the moment; plus it would give him a chance to calm down a bit. He looked at the intimidating man in front of him, who was giving him a hard but curious look. "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile." He then crossed his arms. "And Tess is here with me. Quite honestly, I prefer the lab more with her in it."

As the Director's brow raised on his rough forehead at the man's statement, Tony finished for them.

"And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss," the man of iron brushed him off. However, his screen he was sitting in front of all of a sudden began to project images that looked like weapons, making both Bruce and Tess look to the machine in confusion. Tess then watched as Tony smirked slightly before turning back to the man in front of him. "What is Phase Two?" he then inquired casually, obviously having found something that Fury would have rather he had not.

Suddenly, Steve entered the lab hastily through the sliding doors, and walking to a table in front of the four roughly placed what looked like a large weapon on it, however, it didn't exactly seem to be any normal gun. Tess had never seen anything like it, but she couldn't place what was so different about it. However, as she looked up at the still suited man who had brought it in, she saw that he looked very angry, looking harshly towards her boss.

"Phase Two is SHIELD used the cube to make weapons," Captain America stated harshly. After he stated this, he quickly turned to Tony and commented dryly, "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow."

The look on Fury's face seemed to change slightly then, to what Tess didn't know. But she could see the microscopic signs of discomfort around his eye. Of course, only she had always seen small details like this, so she doubted anyone else noticed. The Director turned towards the Captain, his hand raised slightly. "Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract," he tried to explain. "This does not mean that we're-"

Tony cut the man off, a smirk with a look of mock confusion on his face. "I'm sorry, Nick." The billionaire then turned the screen in front of him containing the weapon diagrams and figures around so the rest of the room could see it. "What were you lying?"

Steve then turned and faced the large man in front of him. "I was wrong, Director," he all but spat at him. "The world hasn't changed a bit."

As Rogers was finishing his sentence, the sliding doors opened hastily, and entered in Natasha, closely followed by a very large, well built, muscular man, who was wearing unusual clothing and had shoulder-length blond hair. Tess noticed that though the man looked dangerous and like he could handle his own very well, at the moment he didn't seem to pose an immediate threat. However, his presence was a lot to take in at once, especially since she had never seen him before, and Tess took an automatic step back, a bit wary of him.

The only persons in the room who seemed to notice this was Natasha, who took a spot next to her, and Bruce, who was also a bit hesitant of the man who just entered the room. Seeing the movements of the woman, he slowly moved to take the other side of her, her giving him a small and thankful smirk when he did so. He did the same, but his was tense. The news of the weapons had angered him, but he was keeping his cool.

Bruce's eyes then moved to the agent next to Tess, the fiery redhead who had brought him here in the first place.

"Did you know about this?" he accusingly asked, but the agent didn't flinch.

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" she answered him calmly, making Tess's face flood with confusion. What was she talking about? Was it about whatever happens to Bruce?

Tess looked over at Bruce, who had a bitter look on his face. He didn't meet her eyes. "I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."

"Loki's manipulating you," she informed him, but he didn't look particularly surprised.

"And you've been doing what exactly?"

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

The doctor crossed his arms. "Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

All eyes then turned to the Director, who, if possible, looked a little defeated at the situation in front of him. Suddenly, he pointed at a member of the group. "Because of him."

The man he was speaking about, the tall blond, was genuinely surprised. He pointed to himself. "Me?"

Fury nodded grimly. "Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge mass that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned."

As the Director said this, Tess finally realized who the man was; he was Thor, the god of Thunder, and brother of Loki. Now that she had put two and two together, his stature and garb made sense. Like the man she had encountered before, he was not of this world. Suddenly, she wasn't so wary of him. She knew he was an ally to them.

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor answered him sternly.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve commented bitterly.

"You're work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies," the god stated angrily. "It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?" the Captain asked. However, he wasn't answered.

"You forced our hand," Fury growled at the god, obviously not caring he was talking to a man who could fry him with a lift of his hammer. "We had to come up with something."

"Nuclear deterrent," Tony commented sarcastically. "Cause that always calms everything right down."

The Director then rolled his eyes at the man, quickly turning towards him with an angry scowl on his face. "Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?"

The chaos escalated very suddenly. Everyone then began talking at the same time, each bickering at each other with angry looks on their faces. It was the usual pairs going at each other, Steve and Tony having an obvious testosterone match, trying to size each other up, Thor and Fury exchanging some heated words, and Natasha and Bruce adding to the boiling pot with comments of their own. Tess couldn't read everyone's lips at the same time, and she couldn't get a good read on any one of the conversations, everyone moving around and talking too fast. As usual, she felt like she was fading into the background, and she was starting to get a headache from trying to concentrate too hard.

Tess took a step back from the group, all too wrapped up in their own problems to notice, and started to rub her temples lightly. She took a deep breath or two to calm herself, when suddenly, the hair on the back of her neck began to stand up, a chill going through her body. While the sudden surge of energy was unexpected, it was familiar. Too familiar.

As the senses she had acquired before when the energy of the scepter began to overtake her returned to her, Tess looked over at the weapon to see that it was glowing as it had before when she had felt the energy overtake her. However, she wasn't feeling overpowered or being overtaken like before; right now she was just feeling the energy's presence, and its side effects. The yelling of the group began to pierce her ears, and not only was she not used to hearing in general, but such loud noises and angry voices. Even when the arguing died down to just one person or two and not the whole group, the noises felt like they were being amplified in her head, a drumming beating in her temples. She began to grit her teeth together, and water began to appear in her eyes. She was in pain...

_"STOP!"_ Tess suddenly cried out then, startling everyone in the room, including Fury and Natasha, and cutting off whoever was speaking at the time. The moment they all stopped talking she felt relief; so much of the sound had gone away, and she felt like she could breathe a bit easier. The entire room looked at her then, all eyes on the woman who was currently rubbing at her temples, trying to make the awful headache she was feeling go away. _"Something's not right."_

Natasha was looking at her with a controlled yet concerned look. Nat had always been the one to help her and in a way take care of her on the Helicarrier, Tess knowing that she would be taking a whole lot more crap if it wasn't for this 'protection' from the Black Widow herself. She wasn't really certain why the woman had taken a liking to her, but she wouldn't question it in the slightest; Nat was a genuinely good friend. The redhead made it very clear that a fight with Tess was a fight with her, and no one wanted that. The widow began to quickly look over her, but then noticed that there was something else to be concerned about at the moment, and the rest of the room was slowly noticing it too.

Tess looked up to see that all eyes were slowly turning to the man slightly in front of her to her left. They all stared at him in shock, including her.

"Doctor Banner..." Steve said calmly to him, "put down the scepter."

Bruce, who had also turned to look at Tess, looked down at his hand and noticed, to his complete shock, that Loki's scepter was currently in his hand. His face held nothing but surprise and worry, and Tess suddenly felt this way, too. The energy she felt was the scepter trying to control him, and she hadn't realized it, or even seen him pick up the weapon in her pain. He looked at the faces of people in the room, all of them full of fear and poised, ready to spring into action, the trained agents in the room's hands on their weapons. But then he turned around slightly, to look back at Tess, and saw her face. Though her eyes were wide and her mouth slightly agape, her expression only held that of concern, not for herself but for him, and that was the only thing keeping him from completely losing it. _She's still not scared, she still isn't afraid…_

Suddenly one of the computers in the room beeped, making all heads turn towards the noise, and Tess, still able to hear, watched as Tony muttered, "Got it," and began to walk over to the screen. Bruce quickly put down the scepter, following him, angrily saying, "Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my little party trick after all." This confused Tess, but she had missed a lot, she knew. She was confused however why she was still able to hear. The last time the ability to hear had left her very quickly, but this time it was remaining. Why was this? Was some of the energy still close enough that its effects were still on her? Her hand on her neck, she walked over to window on the other side of the room. She could feel the eyes on her, but didn't dare turn around.

"Located the Tesseract?" Thor boomed from behind her, and his voice actually made her jump. Again, she felt the eyes searing into her, but she kept her head towards the glass in front of her. She knew that the agents would at least realize that she shouldn't have been able to hear that, and she didn't want to look at them in that moment.

"I can get there faster," Tony replied quickly, his question apparently answered.

Steve tried to speak then, but the Asgardian cut him off.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard," he argued fiercely. "No human is a match for it."

Tess heard what sounded like a scoffed, from who she believed was Tony, and her suspicions were confirmed when Steve yelled, "You're not going alone!"

"You gonna stop me?" the man of iron replied angrily.

"Put on the suit, let's find out."

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

"Put on the suit."

It happened quickly then. All Tess really remembered about the moment was Bruce muttering, "Oh my god," and while she was musing how incredible it was she could hear it, a blast came, destroying the lab they were in. The only thing the agent was able to do in the short time was turn around and put up the most basic of her fields, as the force of the blast set her through the window she was standing in front of, making her sail through the air for a moment before falling towards the bottom floor below her with the shower of glass that followed.


	9. Chapter 9

_Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Midair, Tess was too close to the ground to think of a solution to stop her fall, so she landed painfully on the floor below the lab, a shower of glass following and raining all over her. The force of the landing on the hard ground made pain shoot all around her body, especially her back, and she stayed on the ground for a moment, unmoving. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth together, trying to allow the pain to pass; however, that didn't happen very easily, and her body felt like it had been hit with a baseball bat. She then happened to look over and see that Fury was only a few feet away from her, trying to sit up as he clutched at his ribs. Tess could see that like her, he was in a lot of pain from the fall, and also like her, was trying to push through it. The agent then tried to move herself too, her body screaming in protest as she continued to do so anyway, seeing the Director touch his earpiece.

_"Hill?!"_ she heard him say through her headset, his words transmitting into her earpiece and presumably all the others' also. Alarms and lights started to go off all around them, and Tess squinted as she saw them, her head spinning slightly.

_"External detonation! Number 3 engine is down!"_ Hill's voice crackled in through Tess's earpiece. There was silence for a few moments before she continued, and in that time, Tess slowly got to her feet, checking herself for any injuries that needed to be treated immediately. Amazingly she didn't seem to break anything; however, she knew she was going to be sore if she took a moment to calm down, so she tried to keep moving. Then, Hill's voice flooded her ears once more._ "Somebody's got to get inside and patch that engine!"_

Fury who was starting to get up himself, shouted, with some strain in his voice, _"Stark! You copy that?!"_

_"I'm on it!"_ Tony's voice then confirmed, and Fury was then on his feet, turning towards Tess. "You alright?" he asked quickly, and she answered with a quick nod. Nodding himself he turned and began to speedily exit the room, sending out more messages, Tess right on his heels._ "Coulson! Initiate official lockdown in the detention section then get to the armory!"_ Then, after a short pause, he asked, _"Romanoff?"_

It was a moment before her answer sounded over the transmitter, and when she did all she got out was a breathy and hurried, "We're okay." Tess bit her lip at hearing her response; something wasn't right with Tash, she knew it, whether she was injured or in some kind of trouble. But she knew was the agent was one of the strongest people she knew, and as long as she was alive, she would pull through. Keeping this in mind, they continued on.

The Director and the quiet agent continued to march through the chaos that was ensuing aboard the Helicarrier, but even in this situation, every agent they passed parted for Fury like the Red Sea, making their travel slightly easier. Most of the faces she passed held a trained look of indifference, with the occasional one of stress, however all of them were looked uneasy, and in turn, that made her stomach turn.

All of a sudden, everyone aboard the craft, including Tess, heard the quaking, ear splitting sound of an angry roar echo violently through the Helicarrier.

The outcry sounded animalistic and violent, as if the source was some kind of creature bent on havoc and destruction, and for Tess to have even heard it, it had to be loud.

To Tess, it looked like a horror movie then. Everyone who was walking around them had stopped dead in their tracks as the sound echoed down the halls. The once controlled faces of the agents were now paled with dread and fear, and not one was hiding the fact that they weren't just scared now; they were terrified. This made the woman's heart stop for a moment. Did they know what made the sound? Was it somehow a product of Loki? What was happening?

Fury immediately stopped dead in his tracks, turning around and pausing for a moment to listen for any more unexpected noises, and Tess watched as his face bent more into a scowl. Knowing this look was coming from the usually expressionless and stony Director, she knew something had to be wrong; very wrong. He stood completely still for just a moment, listening intently until the sound died down, and then directed his attention to her suddenly, startling her a bit.

"Go down to Romanoff," he told her firmly, his expression grim. "She's going to need you." And before he gave her the opportunity to ask what was happening, he turned around once more and continued on, quickening his pace as his large trench coat swept around his ankles. His movements seemed to set everyone else in motion, and the agents around them slowly began to move again, only this time without the confidence in their step that they once had.

Tess stood still for a moment and watched him as he continued to stride down the hallway to his destination. What was going on? Then, when she no longer felt the need to stand there, she turned around and began to run towards the opposite end of the hallway, looking for the nearest staircase.

After a few minutes of running, Tess found the railing to the stairwell, almost running past it at the speed she was going. She didn't really know what lower floor she was supposed to go to, being that the carrier had many, but when she suddenly felt the ground shake slightly beneath her, she paused. Were they being attacked from the outside? She waited a moment for the movements to start back up, but she then began to think the source was internal instead of external, being that she hadn't been thrown all over the place. Then when it began to continue again, she realized that her new suspicions were correct, and that it wasn't the entire Helicarrier shaking but just something a few floors under her. She then broke off in another sprint, quickly flying down five levels of stairs towards the source of the shaking.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Tess ran behind a large stack of crates as she continued to feeling the large thumping rocking the ground she was standing on. Continuing in the direction of the shaking, she could tell she was getting closer, the movements growing stronger. She began to realize that they felt like… footsteps?

Suddenly, there was a powerful crash on the other side of the crates, and a small group of terrified agents began to run by her and away from the action, pushing by her and into the crates as they barreled towards the stairs. She tried to get one of them to stop to find out what was happening, but they paid her no attention; they were only concerned with getting out of the room. Upon realizing she was getting no help from them, she knew she'd knew to investigate for herself, and continued forward.

There was a break in the stacks to her left, and she looked over to see what all the fuss was about. She first saw nothing but the wide open room, carrying aircraft and supplies, and it continued to stay that uneventful as she craned her neck slightly around the corner… until Thor was violently throw into a large stack of heavy looking crates in front of her on the other side of the room. Tess jumped back to the safety of the crates, the sight of the large god being thrown scaring the crap out of her. But she quickly peeked around the corner once more to see who his assailant was, and when she did, her eyes grew wide.

The beast didn't see her as he continued to destroy planes and ravage the place. He was massive, at least 7 feet tall and to her about five times the size of a normal person. To call him bulky would be an understatement; he looked like he was on steroids' steroids, and his skin was… green. He looked to have the form of a human, just with the obvious differences. Tess didn't see Natasha anywhere; she must have lost him somewhere along the way. But as he continued to roar and throw things violently around the room she knew she had to act before he destroyed the place. She didn't know what she was up against, but that sure as hell wasn't going to stop her.

Tess stood where she was hiding in the crates and held her hand out slightly to her side, and she began to charge it. Her Ergokinetic abilities worked like someone pulling on a rubber band; the longer and further you kept pulling it, the more energy you gave it. The more potential energy she stored, the more pack in her punch. She smirked slightly at the thought. She was really just a big, moving science project, a combination of physics, chemistry, technology, and genetics all in one. She watched for a moment as her hand glowed in anticipation, her silently trying to judge how much energy to pack in. He was a big boy, this green beast, so he needed a big punch.

After a few moments of waiting, the beast's body turned away from her and she saw her chance. Tess quickly exited her concealed location and stealthily ran towards the large green mass, her light footsteps unable to be heard as she approached him. Then when she was close enough, she raised her glowing fist and took a great leap, striking the beast on side of the head from behind.

As the beast repelled to the side from being hit so hard, Tess used his body as a springboard to launched herself backwards, gracefully somersaulting herself onto the floor behind him. Seeming to be stunned but not incapacitated, the beast quickly righted itself but looked hurriedly side to side, trying to find the source of the attack as loud, jagged breaths left his body.

After a moment, the beast quickly turned around and faced her, his breathing making his body move up and down in quick movements. His teeth gritted, and he began to inhale loudly through his nose, before crouching down and roaring at her, the sound piercing her ears and even making her hair blow past her head slightly. Straightening up and standing her ground, she kept her face straight despite the reality of the enormous juggernaut literally staring her down. Deep down she was terrified, and beginning to realize that this was a very bad idea; however, she kept his feeling down. The beast then started to charge at her, and Tess began to act.

Throwing up a large force field a few yards in front of herself, the beast ran into it, the force of his blow making Tess slide backwards on her feet as she tried to keep the force solid. The glowing but clear field surprised the beast, but didn't stop him from continuing to attack it, landing punches with incredible force behind them on the glass-like energy. It only took a few of them for the field to shatter, the force launching Tess backwards onto the ground roughly.

The beast then continued to rush towards her, making her quickly jump to her feet as he threw another punch at her. At the last moment she charged her hand again and caught the massive fist coming towards her, the energy she was putting off giving her some strength. She did the same with her other hand as the beast tried to fight with his free fist also. However, she knew she wouldn't be able to continue keeping that strength for too long, so she quickly lit up her hands, flames coming from her palms and burning the fists she was fighting against.

The beast howled in pain as he staggered back a few feet, and Tess could already see the burn marks she had inflicted begin to form on his fingers, a burning smell filling the air. She took a moment to catch her breath as he examined the damage, and Tess watched for a moment as he did. However, he quickly recovered, too quick for her.

In the blink of an eye he began to fight back, and with vengeance, and all Tess had time to do was create another transparent field above herself in a sort of a dome. However, the force of the green creature's angry attack put her to her knees. She tried to fight back, but his strength was too much for her. Sweat lined her forehead; she knew she wasn't going to win this. And with her last bit of energy, she looked up at the beast, trying to see if there was any way out of her situation.

However, as she did this, their eyes met, and something changed.

A flash of recognition passed over the beast's face, and Tess saw something familiar in his eyes, a certain softness despite the hard and beastly exterior that surrounded them. They were much larger than human eyes but she felt as if... she had seen them before.

His face seemed to fall as he looked over her then, and Tess suddenly felt the weight of his fury come off her field, his fists leaving the transparent energy in front of her. He stood up a bit straighter then, taking a few steps away from her, and the agent saw something come across his features she didn't expect; shame.

She didn't know what made her do it, but Tess powered down her field, getting up from her position on the floor as she watched him carefully, in case he would strike again. The beast wasn't looking at her, and his position rigid and tense as if he didn't want to look at her. He was just looking at the ground, his breathing rough and a frown deeply etched in his face. Though Tess was still cautious around him, her defenses went down slightly. Why did he look so… sad?

The beast turned his head over at her and saw the look she was giving him, one of confusion and sympathy. He exhaled roughly, which made Tess jump a little, but he didn't seem to notice. Instead, he turned towards her slightly, this large hand raising towards his chest. Then, he made a fist, a circled it around his chest.

_Sorry._

Tess's brain felt as though it had stopped working then. _What?_ Her arms fell to her sides, her eyes bulged, and her mouth gaped. _Did that really just happen? Like, seriously?_ Did he just _sign_ to her? That couldn't have just happened… did it?

And then it hit her, hard, like a tidal wave. Memories, clues, phrases, all flooded her mind and she started to piece it all together, at a speed she didn't think possible.

_"Why would I be uncomfortable around you?" "Most people... just are, I guess."..."And why is everyone looking at you like you're some kind of... threat?" "I am a threat to the ship, Tess."..."I've just... never seen him smile before."... "Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny."... "I become something... awful, Tess, awful, and horrible, and destructive."... the eyes… the signing... Mr. Big, Green and Mean..._

She felt her breathing stop.

_It couldn't be..._

And yet, there was something telling her it was, a feeling deep in her gut that made her feel ill. So she signed one word, one name that would settle it for good. She raised her hand to her head, whispering the word as she signed it.

_"Bruce?"_

The beast in front of her looked down for a moment, but then met her eyes once more. Lifting his hands once more, his massive fingers began to twist and turn once more, slowly and clumsily, but still articulate.

_Bruce… in… here._

_Here_ happened to be right over his chest, his large hand resting over his heart.

Tess let out a strangled gasp, and placed her hand over her mouth as a sea of emotions hit her all at once. _Bruce. Bruce. BRUCE?_ It all made sense when she thought about it; his preferral of solitude, his infamous reputation, why everyone seemed to be walking on eggshells around him. Because this… this was what he becomes, the threat he and everyone else worried about. A few hot tears began to slip out of her eyes as she tried to contain herself. The agent walked closer to him, slowly but steadily, until she was standing close in front of his towering form, him looking down at her with a hard, yet sad look on his face.

_"Bruce,"_ she whispered sadly. _"Bruce, I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was…"_

Bruce sighed above her, taking one of his huge hands and lightly nudging the side of her body with it in a sign of reassurance, retracting it after a moment. She knew what it meant; he knew she was sorry. Tess then began to reach her hand out towards him, her fingers almost grazing his bulky arm when suddenly, she heard gunfire behind them.

Quickly growling and turning around, Bruce turned and crouched in front of Tess, facing the new threats that were firing at them, which happened to be a couple of brave agents who were stupid enough to try and shoot at him. Only pausing for a moment to realize the severity of their situation, they continue to take aim and fire, making Bruce howl more at them, sometimes in pain, sometimes in anger. She watched as the bullets seemed to bounce off his mutant skin, amazingly not piercing it; however, that didn't seem to mean it didn't hurt him. And as she listened to the yells and cries he let out as the men continued to attack, Tess felt something grow inside her, the need to protect this beast, no, this man, who was so good to her. She didn't realize what had happened to him that made him this way, but at the moment, she didn't care.

So then, in an act that many would probably call incredibly stupid, Tess ran in front of Bruce and the agents shooting, throwing up a field as she did so.

The bullets hit the field and flew off it, falling to the floor with little pings as they hit the ground. It only took a moment for the agents to notice that their weapons were doing nothing, and that Agent Lane, the woman no one had really given notice to and thought was mooching off Shield's resources, was the one stopping them_ with a force field._ As their mouths dropped, so did their weapons, and Tess released the field as she stepped forward, gritting her teeth together.

_"Don't you_ dare_ touch him!"_ she spat at them, standing her ground. Anger was pulsing through her, and she felt her hands begin to light small flames past her fingertips. She knew she needed to calm down, but she couldn't. She was so confused… However, she then noticed that the agents in front of her were seeing the small flames and were beginning to move their hands back towards their weapons. This spiked another angry surge through her veins, so instead of holding back, she held out her hands and let the flames grow, her taking a defensive stance, ready to defend herself and the man behind her. _"Do_ not_ test me,_" she growled darkly then, and the agents immediately recanted their previous thoughts.

Suddenly, she her a sharp intake of breath from behind her, and she looked behind to see Bruce looking down at her, a surprised yet cautious look on his face. Then, with one last glance towards her, he ran in the opposite direction.

_"Bruce!"_ she called out as she put out the flames on her palms, and watched him run, away from the agents and herself. She tried once more to call out to the man, but it was no use; he continued until she could no longer see him.


End file.
